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^•UBRARY< 
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M.    USSISCHKIN,    C.  E. 


.   . 


OUR  PROGRAM" 


AN  ESSAY 


BY 


M.  USSISCHK1N,  C.  E. 


TRANSLATED  BY  D.  S.  BLONDHEIM,  BALTIMORE 


PUBLICATIONS   OF  THE 

FEDERATION  OF  AMERICAN  ZIONISTS 
APRIL,   1905 


PRICE,  15  CENTS 


OFFICE  OF  THE  FEDERATION 
165    E.  BROADWAY, 

NEW  YORK 


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5" 


jfm&enwafb 

BALTIMORE,  ilD.,  U.  S.  A 


OUR   PROGRAM 

By  M.  USSISCHKIN.* 

I. 

It  is  twenty-five  years  since  the  endeavor  of  the  Jewish  people 
to  put  an  end  to  the  exile  of  a  thousand  years  and  again  to 
lead  a  free  political  life  in  its  ancient  fatherland  exchanged  its 
medieval,  passive  form  for  an  active  one.  The  first  pogrom  in 
South  Russia  was  the  herald  of  this  new,  active  form.  In  the 
course  of  the  last  twenty-five  years  we  have  beheld  concrete  evi- 
dences of  this  activity.  It  has  been  expressed  in  different  ways, 
according  to  the  differences  in  the  programs  which  the  leaders  of 
the  movement  proposed.  Chibbath  Zion  (the  Love  of  Zion), 
cultural  Zionism,  and  the  diplomatic  Zionism  of  the  congresses  are 
nothing  more  than  varying  forms  of  the  same  basic  idea — that  of 
political  Zionism. 

In  the  political  revival  of  any  people  three  elements  play  a  part : 
the  people,  the  territory,  and  outward  conditions.  In  order  to  be 
in  condition  to  create  a  cultural-economic  center  which  should  be 
•  politically  free,  the  people  which  undertakes  that  task  must  be 
sufficiently  prepared.  It  must  possess  a  highly  developed  national 
consciousness,  it  must  be  united  in  a  strong,  disciplined  organi- 
zation, it  must  possess  immense  national  funds,  it  must  be  armed 
with  endurance  and  patience,  and,  above  all,  it  must  be  ready  to 
sacrifice  the  interests  of  the  present  for  the  sake  of  the  future.  If 
the  people  does  not  possess  all  of  these  essentials,  it  will  not  suc- 
ceed in  forming  a  political  center. 

THE  TERRITORY. 

Long  before  a  state  is  established,  the  territory  must  actually 
belong,  in  an  economic  and  in  a  political  sense,  to  that  people 

*  In  view  of  the  great  confusion  in  Zionist  counsels  occasioned  by  the 
East  African  project  and  the  death  of  Dr.  Herzl,  M.  Ussischkin,  a  leader 
of  the  Russian  Zionists,  has  published  the  present  essay  to  clear  the  air 
and  bring  out  anew  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  movement  and  his  view 
of  the  manner  in  which  they  are  to  be  worked  out— D.  S.  B. 


2117520 


which  desires  to  form  a  center  in  it.  Its  whole  life  must  be  de- 
pendent upon  this  people,  which  must  be  possessor  de  facto,  even 
though  not  as  yet  de  jure.  The  people  must  be  bound  to  the  land 
by  eternal  ties  of  heartfelt  love  and  devotion.  The  earth  must  be 
moistened  with  its  blood  and  sweat. 

OUTWARD  CONDITIONS. 

Even  if  the  people  is  entirely  ready  to  take  possession  of  the  land, 
and  the  land  also  ready  to  receive  the  people,  this  possession  does 
not  always  come  about,  if  certain  favorable  outward  conditions  are 
not  present.  The  vital  interests  of  every  people  conflict  with  the 
interests  of  other  peoples,  for  these  interests  do  not  always  run 
parallel.  Therefore,  everywhere  and  always  in  all  national  en- 
deavors and  movements,  there  must  be  developed  an  intensive,  con- 
certed diplomatic  agitation  among  the  other  peoples  and  rulers,  in 
order  to  obviate  the  outward  difficulties  in  the  path  of  the  move- 
ment It  must  be  explained  to  the  others,  how  lawful,  harmless, 
and,  perhaps,  even  advantageous  is  the  struggle  of  the  nation  for  a 
rebirth.  The  best  cultural-humanitarian  talents  of  other  peoples 
must  be  enlisted.  This  gradual  work  lightens  step  by  step  the 
labors  of  the  leaders  of  the  people  which  is  being  regenerated ; 
the  result  of  this  work  will  prove  to  be  especially  great  at  the  last 
moment,  when  our  cause  shall  have  triumphed. 

II. 

The  most  reasonable  program  in  a  movement  for  freedom  is 
simultaneous  labor  in  all  three  directions.  As  a  result  of  such 
labor  we  obtain  a  normal,  natural  growth  and  the  progress  of  the 
entire  movement.  With  every  step,  with  every  year  the  people  is 
strengthened,  the  land  is  brought  under  control,  and  outward  con- 
ditions are  relieved  and  improved.  All  the  talents  which  the 
people  possesses  find  employment  in  a  movement  for  freedom. 
One  enriches  the  national  treasury,  a  second  develops  and  organi- 
izes  the  masses,  a  third  explores  the  land,  a  fourth  cultivates  it 
and  enriches  it.  While  one  explains  our  endeavors  to  the  intelli- 
gent class  and  to  the  great  body  of  other  peoples,  a  second  ac- 
quaints kings  and  ministers  with  them.  Thus  the  collective  work 
of  individuals  and  groups  forms  a  grand  whole,  which  indicates 
the  growth  and  progress  of  the  entire  movement. 

Very  different  results  are  obtained,  if  the  program  of  activity 
is  one-sided  and  includes  only  one  part  of  the  work.  Growth  is 


then  one-sided  and  therefore  stunted.  Many  valuable  forces  are 
in  that  case  not  put  to  use,  and  the  collective  sum  is  thereby 
smaller.  But  such  one-sided  labor  may  have  even  sadder  conse- 
quences in  the  future.  At  the  first  casual  disturbance  in  one  sphere 
of  activity,  the  workers  feel  the  ground  give  way  beneath  their  feet, 
the  masses  fall  into  despair,  and  the  movement  passes  through  a 
severe  crisis.  The  causes  are  quite  readily  understood.  If,  how- 
ever, work  is  carried  on  simultaneously  in  several  directions,  a 
failure  in  one  quarter  is  atoned  for  by  success  in  a  second; 
when  one  part  becomes  weaker,  another  is  strengthened ;  and  the 
movement  advances  steadily  without  crises.  With  labor  in  but  one 
direction,  however,  everything  must  in  fact  collapse  at  the  first 
failure,  and  even  if  the  movement  should  succeed  in  surviving 
such  crises,  the  end  of  the  whole  endeavor  may  even  then  be  not 
merely  sad,  but  actually  tragic.  Let  us  suppose  that  outward 
conditions  are  favorable  to  the  regeneration  of  this  or  that  people 
in  a  certain  land,  that  all  peoples  and  governments  encourage  the 
revival,  but  that  the  people  itself  has  no  faith  in  its  own  powers, 
has  no  resolution,  no  organization,  and  no  common  funds,  in  order 
to  utilize  the  momentous  opportunity.  At  such  a  juncture  the 
favorable  historical  moment  is  irrevocably  lost  for  centuries. 
Such  moments  has  the  Jewish  people  passed  through  twice,  when 
the  Jews  were  exiled  from  Spain,  and  at  the  time  of  Duke  Joseph 
of  Naxos. 

Exactly  the  opposite  may  also  occur.  The  nation  is  ready  for 
a  rebirth,  has  sufficient  means,  the  country  is  actually  within  its 
grasp,  only  the  outward  conditions  are  not  favorable  to  its  rebirth ; 
in  the  course  of  years  the  people  has  not  been  prepared  for  it.  The 
people  must  again  live  on  for  long,  long  years  in  slavery,  and  await 
better  times.  In  such  a  position  is  Turkish  Armenia  at  the  present 
time.  The  future  freedom  of  the  Armenians  is  assured,  but  they 
will  have  to  wait  long  for  it.  Most  terrible  and  tragic  of  all,  how- 
ever, is  the  position  of  that  people  which  has  revived  spiritually 
and  culturally,  has  organized  its  powers  and  capital,  has  gained 
the  favor  of  peoples  and  of  governments,  but  finds  its  country,  the 
object  of  its  historic  dreams  and  struggles,  actually  in  the  posses- 
sion of  a  foreign  people  strongly  developed  economically  and 
culturally.  In  the  whole  history  of  the  world  there  is  no  parallel 
to  the  tragedy  of  such  a  moment.  And  I  am  terrified,  when  I 
imagine  that  the.  Jewish  people  will  perhaps  pass  through  such  a 
ijooment  at  the  end  of  a  few  decades,  i  The  whole  martyrology  of 


its  two  thousand  years'  history  of  suffering  is  as  nothing  compared 
to  this  moment.  And  it  is  still  more  terrible  that  it  will  have  to 
thank  for  this  moment  not  only  its  enemies,  but  also  its  blind,  one- 
sided friends ! 

III. 

The  comparatively  small  success  which  Zionism  has  achieved 
during  the  past  twenty-five  years  can  be  partly  explained  by  the 
one-sided  labor  of  the  whole  period.  For  ten  years  the  Choveve 
Zion  concerned  themselves  only  with  the  country.  They  com- 
pletely ignored  the  organization  of  the  people  and  the  development 
of  its  spiritual  powers ;  they  contended  themselves  with  philan- 
thropy, and  raised  no  common  funds.  They  did  not  understand 
how  necessary  it  was  to  convert  their  work  into  a  general  public 
movement,  but  they  concealed  it  within  their  ghetto.  They  did 
not  try  to  interest  in  the  movement  the  powerful  representatives 
of  other  peoples.  The  result  was — several  colonies,  reared  by 
philanthropy,  in  Palestine.  This  period  ended  with  the  sad  crash 
of  the  year  1891. 

Then  begins  the  second  period,  that  of  the  supremacy  of 
spiritual  Zionism.  During  this  period  the  country  was  forgotten, 
and,  as  before,  the  outward  conditions  and  the  organization  of  the 
people  were  ignored.  Everything  was  concentrated  upon  inward 
self-knowledge  and  the  spiritual  renaissance.  Five  years'  work 
produced  a  handful  of  idealistic  workers,  who  found  no  practical 
use  for  their  talents;  the  huge  Jewish  masses  remained  indiffer- 
ent, and  the  movement  appeared,  on  the  eve  of  the  first  Congress, 
to  be  practically  moribund. 

From  the  first  Congress  dates  the  third,  the  most  splendid 
period  of  Zionism.  All  real,  conscious  Zionists  beheld  in  the 
Basel  program  the  synthesis  of  all  previous  programs,  together 
with  an  addition.  Publicly  proclaiming  before  the  whole  world 
that  we  are  endeavoring  to  create  a  Jewish  Commonwealth  in 
Palestine,  the  Basel  program  presented  four  points,  which  showed 
the  way  we  had  now  to  travel,  in  order  to  reach  our  goal :  ( I )  to 
gain  control  of  the  country  economically  and  culturally;  (2)  to 
organize  the  forces  and  finances  of  the  people ;  (3)  to  develop  the 
national  consciousness  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  (4)  by  diplomatic 
effort,  to  obtain  conditions  favorable  to  the  desired  end. 

And,  indeed,  the  boldness  with  which  we  proclaimed  our  right 
to  Palestine,  the  clearly  planned  road,  the  magical  power  and 


colossal  energy  of  the  organizer  of  the  congress, — all  of  these 
things  worked  wonders.  The  people  awoke  from  its  eternal 
sleep.  In  every  place  which  the  news  of  the  congress  reached, 
societies  were  organized,  fiery  speeches  were  delivered,  money 
was  collected ;  from  one  congress  to  another  the  work  went  on 
with  increased  celerity.  The  organization  was  strengthened,  the 
bank  was  formed,  the  creation  of  the  national  fund  was  begun; 
there  were,  besides,  outward  evidences  of  diplomatic  activity — 
audiences  with  monarchs  and  ministers.  Everything  seemed  to 
promise  that  the  movement  would  grow  and  become  strong.  But 
those  who  stood  near  the  leaders  and  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  real  state  of  things,  soon  noticed  the  same  basal  error,  from 
which  Zionism  had  suffered  in  the  two  preceding  periods, — a 
one-sided  course,  the  concentration  of  all  powers  exclusively  upon 
one  point  of  the  program, — upon  the  obviation  of  outward  diffi- 
culties, upon  diplomacy,  and  upon  the  outward  side  of  the  organi- 
zation— the  formal-legal  side. 

All  the  other  sides  of  the  movement  were  ignored;  they  were 
even  proscribed.  The  first  point  of  the  Basel  program,  the  eco- 
nomic and  cultural  control  of  Palestine,  was  treated  as  a  step- 
child. The  words  "  colonization  on  a  small  scale,"  "  Choveve 
Zion,"  were  the  synonyms  for  all  that  was  trifling,  insignificant, 
meaningless.  The  colonization  commissions  which  the  congress 
selected  did  not  receive  a  penny,  so  that  they  might  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  undertake  something  at  least. 

For  the  leaders  of  the  movement,  Palestine  and  its  real  condi- 
tion, after  six  years'  work,  remained  no  less  unknown  and  foreign 
than  before  the  first  congress. 

Things  went  no  better  with  the  spiritual  national  activity,  with 
the  problem  of  "Jewish  Culture,"  which  was  always  the  enfant 
terrible  of  the  congresses,  until  the  sixth  congress  disposed  of 
it  finally.  We  may  take  as  an  illustration  the  Hebrew  language, 
this  indispensible  factor  in  our  national  revival,  the  propagation 
of  which  has  made  but  slight  progress  during  the  past  seven 
years. 

IV. 

Such  a  direction  of  the  work  could  lead  to  no  good  results. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  whole  movement  was  dependent  upon  the 
diplomatic  progress  of  the  given  moment;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  numerous  members  of  the  organization,  walking  blindly  be- 


hind  their  leaders,  longed  for  active  work,  while  such  work  really 
did  not  exist,  for  only  the  chosen  ones,  or,  more  correctly,  the 
chosen  one,  could  occupy  themselves  with  diplomacy.  Close  asso- 
ciation with  the  land  of  the  revival,  active  work  there,  the  sending 
of  fresh  talents  thither,  were  regarded  as  heresy.  For  reasons  of 
partisan  politics  the  enormous  majority  likewise  did  not  occupy 
itself  with  work  for  culture.  What  was  left,  then?  To  collect 
money  and  to  deliver  one  and  the  same  speech  for  the  hundredth 
time.  The  cries  of  "  Work ;  give  us  work !  "  were  heard  more  and 
more  frequently.  And  in  answer  to  them,  there  was  proposed  at 
the  fourth  congress,  instead  of  a  truly  Zionistic  plan,  leading 
straight  to  the  goal,  a  substitute  Program  for  actual  work  in  the 
present.  Cooperative  and  savings  associations  and  benevolent 
societies  were  formed ;  collections  were  made  for  those  suffering 
from  hunger,  from  pillage,  from  conflagrations.  The  Zionists 
began  to  intrude  everywhere,  even  into  the  volunteer  fire-com- 
panies. 

Only  a  short  space  of  time  elapsed,  however,  and  this  enthusi- 
asm abated.  All  felt,  although  all  did  not  understand,  that  all 
this  was  not  yet  the  proper  thing,  that  this  work  neither  met  the 
requirements  of  the  final  aim,  nor — and  this  was  even  more  re- 
grettable— did  it  satisfy  the  interests  of  the  moment.  It  became 
clear  that  all  the  labors  mentioned  above  were  nothing  more  than 
a  tempest  in  a  teapot,  since  official  Zionism,  based  upon  legal 
relations  with  all  governments,  cannot  possibly  concern  itself  with 
the  radical  transformation  of  the  life  of  the  whole  Jewish  people 
in  the  countries  of  their  present  abode.  And,  in  fact,  the  terrible 
economic  impoverishment,  the  general  flight  and  emigration,  the 
conflagrations  and  "  pogroms  "  increased  daily.  And  we  heard 
again,  louder  and  louder,  the  call  for  active  work. 

And  to  this  there  was  added  another  factor:  our  diplomacy 
found  itself  in  an  unfavorable  moment  face  to  face  with  a  stone 
wall.  What  happened,  then?  The  seven  years'  course  of  ex- 
clusively diplomatic  work  had  to  be  interrupted,  even  if  only  for 
a  time.  The  many  members  of  the  organization  demanded  work, 
and  of  this  there  was  none  in  Zionism.  The  ground  began  to  give 
way  under  foot.  The  movement  had  to  be  saved,  and  the  most 
dangerous  step  of  its  twenty-five  years  of  existence  was  taken — 
it  was  proposed  in  the  meanwhile  to  colonize  Uganda.  Men's 
heads  were  confused,  a  frightful  dissension  arose,  a  war  between 
brothers  began,  every  kind  of  normal  work  ceased,  and,  finally, 


as  a  result,  there  was  a  complete  crisis  in  our  movement.  Just 
as  Faust,  who  summoned  the  evil  spirit,  could  not  get  rid  of  him 
afterwards,  so  did  the  man  who  conjured  up  the  "  Nachtasyl " 
call  forth  different  territorial  theories  with  their  rude,  cynical 
insults  to  Palestine  and  all  that  is  historically  dear  to  the  Jewish 
people.  The  Zionists  up  to  the  sixth  Congress  were  strong  not 
because  of  diplomacy,  not  because  of  money,  and  not  because  of 
the  organization,  but  exclusively  because  of  the  unity  of  the  idea 
and  because  of  the  harmony  in  their  ranks.  The  Uganda  project 
made  a  breach  in  the  idea  and  destroyed  harmony  for  many  years. 
And,  besides  all  this,  the  Zionistic  organization  suffered  the  most 
terrible  blow  of  all.  The  sickened  heart  of  the  creator  of  the 
congresses  could  not  endure  the  frightful  shock  to  his  work,  and 

it  broke And  now  we  are  living  in  a  terrible  moment. 

Without  a  leader,  without  a  program,  without  love,  without  confi- 
dence in  one  another,  without  a  clear  understanding  of  the  path 
to  be  followed  in  the  future,  do  we  await  the  coming  seventh 
congress.  What  will  it  bring  us?  Will  it  continue  the  work 
begun  by  the  sixth  congress  and  finally  demolish  and  destroy 
all  that  was  created  with  such  tremendous  effort  in  the  course 
of  twenty-five  years,  and  especially  in  the  last  seven  years,  or  will 
it  succeed,  even  in  the  moment  of  despair,  in  mustering  the  colos- 
sal energy  to  atone  for  the  error  of  the  preceding  congress,  and 
clearly  to  trace  out  anew  the  way  of  future  work?  I  would  fain 
believe,  that  it  will  prove  true  to  its  high  calling  and  follow  the 
second  course;  for  this  way  is  not  far  to  seek,  it  is  clear:  a  re- 
turn to  the  Basel  program  in  its  integrity  and  entirety. 


V. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Basel  platform  is  the  creation  of  a  pub- 
licly and  legally  assured  home  for  the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine. 
It  is  therefore  clear  to  everyone  that  the  final  aim  of  the  move- 
ment is  the  publicly  and  legally  assured  home,  but  neither  a  spir- 
itual center  nor  ordinary  philanthropic  colonization.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  clearly  stated,  "  in  Palestine,"  and  no  theories 
and  programs  of  the  territorialists  have  any  place  in  the  Zionist 
organization.  The  more  clearly  to  emphasize  this  fact,  and  once 
for  all  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  pseudo-Zionists  to  agitate  the 
people  and  to  hide  themselves  under  the  Zionist  banner,  the  con- 
gress must  add  a  small,  but  significant  word :  "  only  in  Palestine," 


and  this  basic  formula  must  become  organic  and  remain  inviolate 
for  all  future  congresses. 

Furthermore,  the  seventh  congress  must  clearly  mark  out  the 
work  which  is  embraced  in  the  four  points  of  the  Basel  program, 
and  it  may  not,  under  any  circumstances,  ignore  a  single  point,  as 
also  under  no  circumstances  whatever  may  it  artificially  add  any- 
thing new,  as,  for  example,  the  "  Nachtasyl."  jn-uS  *oi  fyoinS  «S, 
"  Neither  to  add  nor  to  diminish,"  that  must  be  our  position  with 
reference  to  the  Basel  program. 

Let  us  now  consider  all  four  points  separately,  although, 
from  technical  reasons  of  exposition,  not  in  the  order  of  their 
formulation. 

A.     ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  JEWISH  PEOPLE. 

For  three  years  past  the  necessity  for  the  transformation  of  the 
statutes  of  our  organization  has  been  apparent,  and  this  became 
especially  needful  in  consequence  of  the  numerous  groupings 
within  our  party  and  also  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  the 
President  of  the  Congress  and  the  Aktions-Komitee  [Executive 
Committee].  I  wish  to  dedicate  a  special  article  to  this  subject; 
now,  however,  we  will  pass  on  to  the  second  point. 

VI. 

We  need  not  waste  many  words  upon  the  awakening  of 
the  consciousness  of  self  in  the  Jewish  people,  which  has  lately 
been  sufficiently  discussed  and  written  about.  This  must  be  one 
of  the  chief  endeavors,  not  of  the  Aktions-Komitee,  but  of  all 
societies,  federations,  and  groups ;  every  country,  every  group, 
every  federation,  every  society,  with  its  opinions,  its  philosophy, 
and  its  local  conditions,  must  work;  all  must  strive  towards  one 
goal,  to  educate  and  again  to  educate  all  classes  of  the  Jewish 
people,  in  order  that  they  may  labor  for  the  regeneration  of  their 
people  in  the  land  of  their  forefathers,  that  they  may  be  ready  to 
make  the  greatest  sacrifices  to  that  end,  and  that  they  may  finally 
believe  exclusively  in  their  own  powers. 

But  this  work  of  culture  and  education  may  not  be  superficial 
and  mechanical,  as  has  been  the  case  up  till  now,  but  it  must  be 
deeper  and  more  intensive. 

I  should  like  to  refer  especially  to  one  side  of  this  activity. 
The  regeneration  of  the  Hebrew  language  must  be  just  as  in- 

8 


tensively  cultivated  as  the  regeneration  of  the  land  and  of  the 
people.  It  must  become  the  official  language  of  our  movement, 
of  our  leaders  and  workers.  The  minds  of  our  people  must  have 
intercourse  with  one  another  through  their  own  language  and 
their  own  literature.  This  language  must  be  equally  as  holy,  in  a 
national  sense,  to  the  Fractionist  (radical)  as  to  the  Mizrachi 
(orthodox).  I  repeat,  that  all  this  is  the  local  work  of  the  socie- 
ties and  federations,  a  work  in  which  they  are  independent;  but 
they  should  give  the  congress  an  account  of  their  activity,  just  as 
in  the  case  of  the  shekel-collection,  the  sale  of  stamps,  and  so  on. 
The  congress  requires  and  controls  the  work,  but  does  not  direct 
it. 

VII. 

B.    THE  PREPARATION  OF  THE  NATIONS  AND  GOVERNMENTS  FOR 
THE  AUTONOMOUS  SETTLEMENT  OF  PALESTINE  BY  THE  JEWS. 

The  so-called  political,  diplomatic  work  I  consider  very  neces- 
sary and  in  the  highest  degree  important.  It  must  and  will  be 
carried  on  much  more  intensively  than  before,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  this  work  from  now  on  will  be  the  affair,  not  of  a  single 
person,  but  of  a  group  of  persons.  During  the  life  of  Herzl  this 
entire  work  was  concentrated  exclusively  in  his  hands.  This 
lofty,  magical  personality  involuntarily  cast  all  others  into  the 
shade,  and  allowed  no  one  else  to  be  active  in  the  line  of  Jewish 
diplomacy.  Moreover,  this  uncrowned  king  of  the  Jewish  people 
concentrated  his  attention  largely  upon  the  rulers  and  ministers 
of  the  other  peoples.  He  had,  in  fact,  neither  the  opportunity 
nor  the  time  to  devote  more  attention  to  the  great  masses  of  the 
peoples  of  Europe.  On  the  other  hand,  he  had  made  decided  and 
final  demands  on  the  Sultan  and  his  government.  He  could  not 
and  would  not  content  himself  with  little,  or  strive  gradually  to- 
ward the  goal.  Now,  however,  the  matter  is  in  a  different  posi- 
tion ;  we  have,  alas,  no  longer  a  Herzl,  and  we  see  no  new  one  in 
the  near  future.  Nolens  volens,  a  group  of  persons  will  be 
obliged  jointly  to  continue  his  work.  This  or  that  person,  who 
will  appear  before  this  or  that  potentate,  will  no  longer  be  in  a 
position  to  rely  upon  the  magic  of  his  own  personality,  and  will 
be  obliged  to  rely  upon  the  power  and  the  distinction  of  the  Zion- 
ist organization.  The  latter  will,  however,  naturally  be  more  im- 
pressive to  the  democratic  masses  of  the  peoples,  to  the  intelligent 


and  progressive  classes,  to  the  parliaments  of  Europe  and  America, 
than  to  the  rulers  and  the  ministers.  And  the  diplomatic  work 
also  will  naturally  be  transferred  from  the  closets  of  diplomatists 
to  the  great  halls  of  congresses  and  meetings.  We  will  walk  the 
way  of  the  Greeks,  the  Italians,  the  Armenians,  and  the  Mace- 
donians. A  new  policy  must  also  be  adopted  in  regard  to  Turkey. 
If  we  always  keep  the  ultimate  goal  in  view  in  our  program  and 
in  our  agitation,  we  must,  with  the  support  of  the  European 
consuls,  demand  from  Turkey  the  restoration  of  our  suspended 
rights  in  Palestine.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Russian  govern- 
ment will  obtain  for  us  the  restoration  of  the  rights  of  its  subjects, 
as  the  governments  of  Western  Europe  and  America  have  done  in 
part.  He  who  knows  the  views  of  the  Russian  government  on 
Jewish  emigration  can  have  no  doubt  of  it. 

Our  diplomacy  will  have  to  be  on  the  lookout  in  the  capital  of 
the  Turkish  Empire,  so  as  to  be  able  to  make  use  of  every  favor- 
able moment  (and  such  moments  often  present  themselves),  in 
order  to  increase  our  influence  and  gradually  to  extend  and  fortify 
our  rights  in  Palestine.  I  must  refer  to  one  more  side  of  our 
political  activity,  a  side  which  has  been  entirely  lacking  up  to 
the  present.  By  means  of  the  press  and  of  political  connections 
we  must  influence  the  Turkish  population  and  gain  their  favor. 
The  Turkish  press  is  poor,  the  censorship  oppresses  it  most  se- 
verely, but  it  can  nevertheless  be  made  useful.  Especially  must 
the  free  Arabic  press  of  Egypt,  which  has  immense  influence  in 
Syria  and  Asia  Minor,  be  utilized.  It  is  true,  that  public  opinion 
has  very  little  significance  in  Turkey, — Yildiz-Kiosk  directs  abso- 
lutely the  destiny  of  the  Empire, — but  we  must  also  keep  in  view 
the  future,  for  our  diplomacy  would  not  attain  the  highest  stand- 
ing, if  it  only  considered  the  present  and  was  not  sufficiently  far- 
sighted  to  look  behind  the  curtain  which  conceals  the  future.  I 
sum  up :  political  and  diplomatic  labor  occupies  one  of  the  fore- 
most places  in  our  program.  It  is  not  the  affair  of  the  societies, 
nor  is  it  the  affair  of  one  person;  it  is  the  affair  of  a  council. 
This  council,  supported  by  our  organization,  will  bear  our  final 
demands  to  the  cabinets  of  monarchs,  to  the  halls  of  parliaments, 
and  to  the  assemblies  of  the  masses  of  the  people,  and  there  de- 
fend them.  The  council,  supported  by  the  protection  of  the  Euro- 
pean governments,  will  secure  step  by  step  our  rights  in  Turkey 
and  will  prepare  public  opinion  in  the  Turkish  Empire  for  the 
moment  of  the  attainment  of  our  goal. 


10 


Our  diplomatic  activity,  in  a  word,  will  not  be  brilliant,  but 
productive;  its  success  will  not  be  rapid,  but  it  will  be  all  the 
more  certain. 

VIII. 

C.     THE  COLONIZATION  OF  THE  COUNTRY  BY  JEWISH  FARMERS 

AND  ARTISANS. 

I  shall  in  my  present  essay  devote  most  attention  to  this  point 
and  give  it  the  largest  space,  for  the  following  reasons:  first, 
I  consider  this  work  the  most  fruitful  for  the  present,  and  the  one 
also  to  occupy  the  largest  number  of  our  Zionists;  secondly, 
the  question  of  actual  work  in  Palestine  has  been  very  little  dis- 
cussed by  the  Zionist  press  and  Zionist  agitators;  thirdly,  the 
points  "  colonization  on  a  small  scale,"  "  infiltration,"  have  been 
regarded  as  insignificant  and  unimportant.  So  thoroughly  has 
everyone  been  convinced  of  the  impossibility  of  undertaking  any- 
thing serious  in  Palestine,  that  I  consider  it  necessary  to  make 
clear  what  a  broad  field  for  activity  Palestine  offers,  even  under 
present  conditions.  I  desire  to  point  out  that  we  have  far  too 
limited  powers  at  our  command,  in  order  to  carry  out  all  the 
work  which  already  exists  there. 

In  order  to  create  a  Jewish  autonomous  community,  or  rather, 
a  Jewish  state,  in  Palestine,  it  is  above  all  necessary  that  the  whole 
soil  of  Palestine,  or  at  least  the  major  portion  of  it,  should  be  in 
the  possession  of  Jews.  Without  property  rights  to  the  soil, 
Palestine  will  never  be  Jewish,  no  matter  how  many  Jews  there 
may  be  in  the  cities  and  even  in  the  villages  of  Palestine.  The 
Jews  would  then  occupy  the  same  abnormal  position  which  they 
do  to-day  in  the  lands  of  the  exile.  They  would  have  no  ground 
on  which  to  stand.  But  how  is  land  obtained  in  any  country? 
Only  in  one  of  the  following  three  ways:  by  force,  that  is,  by 
depriving  the  possessor  of  his  property  by  violent  means;  by 
forced  sale,  that  is,  by  expropriation  (the  taking  of  private  prop- 
erty for  public  purposes)  by  the  state;  or  by  voluntary  sale. 

Which  of  these  three  means  is  applicable  in  Palestine?  The 
first  is  entirely  excluded.  For  that  we  are  too  weak.  There  re- 
main, then,  the  second  and  the  third  methods.  Let  us  see,  now, 
what  lands  exist  at  the  present  moment  in  Palestine,  and  how 
far  these  two  means  may  be  employed. 


IX. 

Palestine  in  the  narrow  sense,  that  is,  the  biblical  Palestine,  con- 
tains about  two  million  deciatines  of  land  (about  5,400,000  acres, 
or  23,000,000  donums)  of  various  grades.  Of  this  there  are  in 
Jewish  hands  about  50,000  deciatines  (135,000  acres),  or  about 
two  per  cent.  A  small  portion  is  in  the  hands  of  Europeans, 
especially  of  Germans,  Armenians,  and  Greeks.  The  whole  sur- 
face of  Palestine  can  properly  be  divided  into  three  equal  classes : 
one  portion  is  the  property  of  the  Sultan  and  is  administered  by 
a  particular  bureau  (Jiftlik),*  a  second  part  belongs  to  the 
Arabic  proprietors  (Effendis),  to  Christians  and  to  Mohamme- 
dans, and  the  third  part,  finally,  belongs  to  the  Arabic  peasants 
(Fellahs).  Land,  the  property  of  the  state,  does  not  exist  in 
Palestine. 

Let  us  now  consider  whether  expropriation  by  the  state  can  be 
applied  to  these  landed  properties.  As  far  as  the  effendis  and 
the  fellahs  are  concerned,  there  can  be  no  question  whatever  of 
forced  sale.  Neither  Turkey  nor  the  European  powers  would 
ever  grant  the  Jews  in  the  charter  the  right  to  expel  the  proprie- 
tors from  their  land.  Without  doubt  the  Mohammedan  popula- 
tion will  be  able  to  utilize  the  autonomous  rights  which  the  Jews 
will  receive  in  the  future  as  well  as  we.  Consequently,  the  future 
Jewish  colonist  will  be  obliged  to  obtain  land  solely  by  amicable 
purchase  from  the  effendis  and  fellahs.  There  remains,  then, 
the  third  portion  of  Palestine — Jiftlik.  But  this  very  land  is, 
because  of  its  climatic  conditions,  least  adapted  for  the  commence- 
ment of  colonization  on  a  large  scale.  This  land  is  for  the  most 
part  located  in  the  Jordan  valley  El  Chor,  with  its  tropical  climate 
and  in  swampy  neighborhoods  where  fever  prevails,  along  the 
waters  of  Merom.  They  are  uncommonly  rich,  as  regards  flora, 
but  immense  expenditures  are  necessary  to  put  them  in  a  healthful 
condition;  besides,  only  such  people  can  settle  there,  as  have  be- 
come acclimated  in  Palestine  by  a  stay  of  several  decades.  More- 
over, this  land  is  not  desert.  It  is  inhabited  and  worked 
by  the  so-called  Mograb-Arabs,  Mohammedans,  emigrants  from 
Algeria,  Tunis,  and  the  Balkan  peninsula,  who  did  not  desire  to 
submit  to  Christian  rule  over  those  lands.  And  the  Sultan — the 


*  The  bureau  administering  the  estates  of  the  members  of  the  imperial 
family. 


12 


calif  of  all  the  faithful — took  them  under  his  protection,  and  al- 
lowed them  to  enjoy  the  usufruct  of  his  own  domains  under  cer- 
tain conditions.  He  receives  from  them  twenty  per  cent  in  kind 
of  every  harvest.  I  do  not  believe,  again,  that  it  could  ever  be  to 
the  interest  of  the  calif  to  deprive  his  faithful  subjects  of  the 
land  and  to  remove  them  by  force.  Without  doubt  in  this  case 
also  the  acquisition  of  the  land  by  Jews  must  be  brought  about 
in  amicable  fashion.  Consequently,  the  only  means  of  gaining 
Palestine  at  any  time  is  through  purchase,  no  matter  under  what 
political  conditions. 

Let  us  now  consider  when  it  will  be  more  convenient,  easier, 
and  cheaper  to  obtain  land  in  Palestine — before  or  after  the 
acquisition  of  the  charter?  /  answer  categorically:  Before  the 
acquisition  of  the  charter. 

What  causes  constrain  the  present  fellahs  and  effendis  to  sell 
their  land?  The  neglect  and  lack  of  cultivation  of  the  land,  the 
heavy,  overpowering  taxes,  the  blood-sucking  extortion  of  the 
Turkish  officials,  the  lawlessness  of  the  fellahs,  and  the  other 
pleasant  features  of  the  Turkish  regime.  At  the  moment,  how- 
ever, when  the  Jews  obtain  autonomy,  the  scene  will  change.  The 
land  will  begin  to  flourish,  the  difficulties  to  lessen,  the  population 
will  be  roused  to  new  life,  it  will  become  economically  and  cul- 
turally healthy,  and  the  Arab  will  have  no  reason  to  forsake  his 
old,  familiar  home,  to  sell  his  land,  and  to  emigrate  to  another 
province  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  old  regime. 
The  cause  which  constrained  many  Mohammedans  to  leave  Al- 
geria, Tunis,  and  the  Balkan  peninsula,  will  not  operate  here. 
There,  hatred  of  the  Christian,  the  latter  s  supremacy,  and  the 
harsh,  not  entirely  legal,  conduct  of  the  new  officials  and  admin- 
istrators forced  him  to  leave.  Nothing  of  the  sort  can  occur  in 
Palestine.  The  Arabs  live  on  most  friendly  and  peaceful  terms 
with  the  Jews.  They  recognize  unconditionally  the  historical 
>title  of  the  Jews  to  the  land.  Moreover,  the  Jewish  officials  will 
hardly  allow  themselves  such  liberties  as  the  Algerian,  Bulgarian, 
and  Bosnian  officials  took.  The  other  peoples  would  remind  them 
too  soon  of  their  rights  and  duties.  And  therefore  I  repeat  that 
the  purchase  of  land  after  the  charter  will  be  incomparably  more 
difficult.  And  even  if  a  certain  portion  declared  themselves 
willing  to  sell  their  lands,  the  prices  would  then  be  so  high,  that 
it  would  probably  be  hardly  possible  from  purely  economic 
grounds  to  pay  them.  Anyone  who  is  only  slightly  acquainted 

13 


with  the  Arabs,  he  who  has  only  one  single  time  made  the  attempt 
to  purchase  anything  whatever  in  Palestine,  will  understand  what 
exceedingly  difficult  work  it  is.  Even  now,  when  the  Arab 
knows  that  the  Jew  has  no  special  rights  whatever,  that  for  Jews 
from  foreign  countries  every  purchase  of  land  has  been  made 
difficult,  and  that  very  few  Jews  feel  the  desire  to  purchase  land  in 
Palestine,  even  now  the  coming  of  one  or  two  people  to  acquire 
a  small  parcel  of  land  is  enough  to  cause  rumors  of  the  Jewish 
millions  to  spread  like  wildfire,  and  all  the  Arabs  decline  to  sell 
for  the  present,  and  prefer  to  await  better  times  and  prices. 
Only  after  long  parleying,  with  great  endurance  and  patience,  is 
it  possible  to  add  a  small  parcel  of  land  to  the  Jewish  possessions. 
What,  then,  will  be  the  state  of  things  when  the  Arab  learns  that 
the  Jewish  people  possesses  the  charter  with  the  right  to  live 
independently  in  Palestine,  when  its  millions  will  exist,  not  in  fic- 
tion, but  in  fact?  I  cannot  imagine  the  possibility  of  carrying 
out  at  that  time  the  charter  which  had  been  received.  We  must 
consequently  proceed  at  once  to  the  purchase  of  land.  Geulath  ha- 
Arez,  the  "redemption  of  the  land,"  must  be  our  "watchword  at 
the  present  moment.  We  must  buy  in  every  way,  with  all  the 
means  at  command,  all  land,  no  matter  what,  that  is  to  be  had  at 
present,  for  there  is  no  plot  of  ground  in  Palestine  which  will  not 
be  useful,  sooner  or  later,  for  one  purpose  or  another. 

Let  us  now  discuss  in  detail,  which  lands  must  be  bought,  with 
what  means,  and  in  what  manner. 

X. 

There  are  in  Palestine  great  connected  reaches  of  land,  which 
are  fabulously  cheap,  very  thinly  populated  and  are_  adapted  for 
various  uses,  especially  for  agriculture,  and  the  raising  of  cattle 
and  sheep.  These  lands  are  east  of  the  Jordan,  to  the  east 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  in  south  Judea,  from  Gaza  to  the  Turkish- 
Egyptian  boundary  of  Waad-El-Arish.  They  can  be  had  at  a 
price  of  from  one  to  ten  francs  per  donum  (—  .229  acre).  The 
second  class  of  lands  consists  also  of  rather  large  parcels  of  land, 
which  are,  however,  smaller  than  the  first.  They  are  very  fruitful, 
but  fever  prevails  there,  and  they  are  rather  thickly  populated. 
Such  lands  there  are  in  Galilee  (Valley  of  Esdraelon)  on  the  shore 
of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  (Waad-Chavar)  and  in  other  sections. 
The  prices  of  these  lands  vary  between  fifteen  and  twenty-five 
francs. 

14 


Finally  there  are  areas  of  land  of  varying  character,  small 
parcels  of  land,  which  lie  between  the  cities  and  the  Jewish 
colonies  of  Palestine,  Galilee  and  Judea,  and  are  everywhere  rather 
thickly  populated.  The  prices  of  these  lands  range  from  fifteen 
to  forty-five  francs. 

All  the  three  classes  of  land  mentioned  above  must  be  purchased 
by  us,  but  through  different  institutions  and  organizations.  The 
first  class  of  large  and  healthy  lands  must  be  purchased  by  the 
National  Fund,  the  second  class  of  lands,  likewise  large,  but  re- 
quiring the  taking  of  steps  to  make  them  healthy,  ought  to  be 
purchased  by  Baron  Rothschild  and  the  "  lea."  The  third  group 
of  lands,  those  which  are  small,  scattered,  and  dear,  must  be 
obtained  by  the  Geullah  Society  and  other  small  colonizing  organ- 
izations (the  Odessa  Palestine  Committee,  the  German  "  Ezra  " 
Society,  etc.). 

The  National  Fund  must  direct  most  of  its  attention  to  the 
purchase  of  large,  connected,  and,  especially,  cheap  lands,  since  it 
does  not  possess  particularly  large  means,  while  the  quantity  of 
the  national  domain  is  of  great  importance.  Moreover,  it  must 
be  seen  to  that  these  lands  should  be  thinly  populated,  in  order  that 
there  may  be  no  particular  difficulties  in  freeing  them  from 
the  Arab  population  and  settling  them  with  Jews. 

I  consider  it  necessary  to  say  at  this  point  a  few  words  concern- 
ing the  statutes  of  the  National  Fund.  The  first  provision  of  the 
enactment  which  was  passed  at  the  sixth  congress  states  that  it  is 
the  purpose  of  the  National  Fund  to  purchase  and  cultivate  land 
in  Palestine  and  the  neighboring  countries.  As  the  statutes  of  the 
National  Fund  have  not  as  yet  been  legalized  by  any  European 
government,  the  seventh  congress  must  hasten  to  correct  the  two- 
great  errors  of  the  first  section,  that  is,  to  strike  out  the  words 
"  and  the  neighboring  countries  "  and  the  words  "  cultivation  of 
these  lands."  Merely  in  order  to  obtain  the  soil  of  Palestine  and 
to  transform  it  into  national  property,  such  colossal  sums  are 
necessary,  that  the  purchase  of  land  in  the  neighboring  countries- 
at  the  expense  of  the  National  Fund  would  be  an  absolute  crime. 
Other  funds  (various  syndicates)  will  be  found  for  the  neighbor- 
ing countries,  if  colonization  there  prove  desirable  and  possible, 
but  not  a  single  penny  of  the  National  Fund  may  be  spent  upon 
it.  Besides,  bitter  experience  has  taught  us  that  we  must  be  very 
prudent  in  the  formulation  of  our  statutes  and  of  our  program. 
Who  knows  whether  some  day,  with  the  high  development  of 

IS 


technical  arts  and  of  transportation,  by  the  "  neighboring  lands  " 
some  East  Africa  or  Afghanistan  may  not  be  understood  ?  Cave- 
ant  consules! 

It  would  also  be  a  sin  to  expend  the  money  of  the  National 
Fund  upon  the  cultivation  of  land,  for  the  following  reasons. 
Many,  many  decades  will  elapse,  before  the  entire  soil  of  Pales- 
tine will  be  nationalized,  and  the  postponement  of  this  time 
by  the  expenditure  of  the  National  Fund  for  purposes  of  culti- 
vation is  not  in  the  interest  of  the  policy  of  future  autonomy  in 
Palestine.  Moreover,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil  presupposes 
public  administrative  labors  and  efforts,  and  the  suppression  of 
private  initiative  and  of  liberty,  that  is  everything  which  promises 
great  expenses  and  small  returns.  With  all  available  capital,  only 
not  with  the  hard-earned  pennies  of  the  Jewish  proletariat,  may 
these  labors  and  efforts  be  made.  The  land,  however  dear  it  may 
be,  remains  the  capital  of  the  people.  The  improvements  of  all 
kinds  upon  it  may,  however,  very  often  be  valueless. 

I  repeat,  that  the  change  in  section  I  of  the  statutes  as  proposed 
by  me  must  unconditionally  be  undertaken  by  the  seventh  congress. 


XL 

The  second  class  of  lands,  as  I  have  already  said,  should  be 
purchased  by  Rothschild  and  the  "  lea."  The  one  as  well  as  the 
other  has  at  command  immense  sums  of  money.  The  former 
has  expended  and  continues  to  expend  these  sums  upon  the 
colonization  of  Palestine.  The  latter  does  very  little  for  Palestine. 
But  the  Zionist  organization  must  influence  the  "  lea  "  in  this 
direction,  not  by  insults  and  threats  (for  these  means  are  of  no 
avail),  but  by  the  example  of  reasonable,  systematic  labor.  The 
"  lea  "  must  purchase,  with  its  own  and  Rothschild's  money,  the 
fruitful  lands  situated  along  the  sea  and  those  in  Galilee,  expend 
large  sums  upon  putting  these  lands  in  a  healthy  condition,  and 
make  them  entirely  suitable  for  Jewish  colonization.  As  the 
reclamation  of  this  land  can  be  carried  on  piecemeal  during  the 
course  of  some  years,  it  will  be  possible  to  effect  the  removal  of  the 
Arab  population  gradually  and  without  special  difficulty.  The 
"  lea "  has  already  made  a  beginning  with  such  lands,  as  it 
purchased  two  years  ago  the  stretch  of  land  called  Gidrah,  along 
the  coast,  between  Haifa  and  Acre, — a  place  prominent  in  Pal- 
estine because  of  its  situation  and  its  future.  Although  most  pro- 

16 


ductive  for  all  possible  kinds  of  cultivation,  this  place  is  affected 
with  fever,  and  is  unhealthy  on  account  of  its  numerous  swamps. 
For  this  land  the  lea  paid,  if  I  mistake  not,  eighteen  francs  per 
donum.  If  a  sum  equally  as  large  is  expended  upon  it  for 
drainage,  for  reclaiming  the  swamps  and  for  planting  eucalyptus 
groves,  and  if  the  place  becomes  quite  healthy,  the  price  of  this 
land,  near  the  only  harbor  in  Palestine,  Haifa,  will  be,  not  thirty 
francs,  but  fully  one  hundred  francs  per  donum,  if  not  more. 

The  Geullah  and  the  colonization  societies  must  carry  out  an 
altogether  different  kind  of  work.  They  must  be  the  intermedi- 
aries between  persons  who  desire  to  purchase  land  out  of  their 
own  means,  and  the  owners  of  this  land.  They  must  aid  in 
enlarging  and  rounding  out  the  Jewish  colonies,  in  increasing  the 
shares  of  land  held  by  the  colonists  and  their  growing  children. 
These  purchases  can  and  must  go  on  uninterruptedly,  and  only 
such  lands  must  be  bought  as  may  immediately  be  occupied  and 
made  profitable.  On  this  account,  these  lands  must  also  be  near 
cities  or  colonies.  The  fact  that  they  are  dear  need  not  deter 
us.  With  the  farmer,  the  value  of  the  land  only  amounts  to 
one-third  of  his  establishment,  and  with  the  gardener  and  the 
vine-grower,  to  as  little  as  a  fifth  and  less.  And  to  atone  for  this, 
all  the  other  expenses  of  personal  and  social  life  diminish  so 
considerably  in  the  case  of  settlement  near  a  colony  already  in 
existence  or  near  a  city,  that  they  cover,  with  a  surplus  even,  the 
increase  in  the  price  of  the  land. 

One  other  circumstance  constrains  us  to  purchase  these  very 
lands.  The  thirty  Jewish  colonies  are  scattered  in  four  districts, 
in  Judea,  near  Jaffa;  in  Lower  Galilee,  near  Haifa;  in  Central 
Galilee,  near  Tiberias ;  and  in  Upper  Galilee,  near  Safed.  The 
colonies  are  usually  separated  from  one  another  by  comparatively 
small  distances  of  from  two  to  ten  kilometers  (one  and  one- 
quarter  to  six  and  one-quarter  miles).  By  the  gradual  purchase 
of  these  intervening  lands,  the  colonies  will  be  connected,  they 
will  be  ranged  close  together,  and  they  will  form  small  territories 
belonging  to  Jews  and  occupied  by  them  exclusively.  This  cir- 
cumstance will  have  tremendous  significance  for  our  future.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten  that,  with  the  development  of  the  Jewish 
colonies,  the  Arab  villages  lying  between  them  will  be  enriched 
and  developed,  and  if  we  do  not  now  strive  to  add  them  in  due 
season  to  our  possessions,  we  shall  hardly  succeed  in  so  doing  in 
the  future. 


The  Odessa  Palestine  Society,  the  "  Ezra,"  and  other  small 
colonization  societies  must  spend  a  part  of  their  budget  upon  the 
purchase  of  the  lands  near  the  colonies  for  the  families  who  dwell 
there  and  have  become  large.  The  "  Geullah "  Society,  again, 
with  its  capital  of  one  hundred  thousand  rubles,  together  with 
the  credit  of  two  hundred  thousand  rubles  which  the  Anglo- 
Palestine  Company  has  granted  it,  must  purchase  these  lands 
and  sell  them  again  for  cash  to  well-to-do  persons  at  a  small 
profit  to  the  bank  and  its  shareholders. 

In  passing  I  also  desire  to  say  a  few  words  concerning  the 
legality  of  the  "  Geullah,"  because  this  society  has  met  with 
much  opposition.  The  transformation  of  the  soil  of  Palestine 
into  private  property,  it  is  said,  violates  i  principle  of  the 
nationalization  of  the  soil,  which  was  set  up  by  the  National  Fund. 
That  is  quite  true.  But  in  making  this  statement,  one  point  is 
forgotten,  that  the  National  Fund,  even  with  greater  progress  than 
it  has  made  in  the  past  three  years  (nine  hundred  thousand 
francs),  will  not  be  in  a  position  to  nationalize  the  very  smallest 
portion  of  the  lands  in  Palestine.  We  are  confronted  with  two 
problems :  the  redemption  of  the  land  and  its  nationalization. 
Only  the  National  Fund  can  work  for  the  latter  principle,  and  no 
one  is  in  a  position  to  aid  it  in  so  doing.  The  only  thing  which 
can  be  done  is  to  increase  its  receipts.  For  the  first  principle — 
the  redemption  of  the  land — private  initiative  can  and  must  labor, 
as  the  Geullah  in  fact  does.  And  everyone  who  regards  life  from 
the  standpoint  of  actual  possibility,  and  does  not  judge  solely 
according  to  the  abstract  principles  of  books,  must  admit  that 
private  initiative  is  incomparably  stronger  than  corporate  institu- 
tions. I  desire  to  add  one  more  point.  If  we  direct  our  destinies 
in  Palestine  independently,  if  the  capital  of  our  National  Fund  is 
large,  and  we  decide  to  expropriate  private  lands  in  the  interests 
of  the  nation,  the  question  arises,  which  expropriation  will  be 
easier,  that  of  the  Jewish  properties  (which  were  purchased  by  the 
"  Geullah  ")  or  the  property  of  the  Christians  and  Mohammedans 
(which  remained  in  their  possession,  because  the  Geullah  did  not 
operate) ? 

For  non-partisan,  unprejudiced  men  the  answer  is  plain. 

So  then,  the  National  Fund,  the  "  lea,"  the  "  Geullah  "  and  the 
colonization  societies  are  to  purchase  land  in  Palestine.  It  is 
clear  and  self-evident,  that  the  representatives  of  all  these  insti- 
tutions will  form  in  Palestine  a  committee  for  the  purchase  of 

18 


land  which  shall  direct  purchases  exclusively  and  alone.  No  one 
except  the  members  of  the  committee  may  and  can  concern  him- 
self with  the  acquisition  of  land.  The  committee,  which  must  in- 
clude an  experienced  agriculturist,  well  acquainted  with  the 
language  and  laws  of  the  country,  and  also  a  practical  merchant, 
a  financier,  will  from  the  very  first  put  a  stop  to  all  such  specula- 
tions in  land  as  occurred  in  the  sad  period  of  the  nineties,  and  will 
be  in  a  position  to  dictate  its  demands  to  sellers  of  land. 

XII. 

We  must  now  consider  another  very  important  point.  How 
are  purchases  to  be  made  under  the  present  Turkish  regime? 
Owing  to  the  obscurity  of  the  Turkish  laws  concerning  the  owner- 
ship of  land,  which  are  based  upon  the  religious  legislation  of  the 
Koran  and  at  the  same  time  upon  the  civil  statutes  of  the  Code 
Napoleon,  it  is  difficult,  very  difficult,  to  purchase  land  in  Palestine 
and  to  conclude  the  transaction. 

Owing  to  all  possible  chicanery  and  the  official  interpretation  of 
the  laws  at  the  transfer  of  real  estate  to  foreign  subjects,  owing 
to  the  dilatory  policy  of  the  Turkish  administration,  for  which 
neither  time  nor  money  has  any  significance,  and  which  is  so  con- 
stituted that  it  is  impossible  to  take  a  single  step,  even  though 
perfectly  legal,  without  the  almighty  bakshish,  it  is  dificult,  I 
repeat,  incredibly  difficult,  but  not  impossible. 

Difficulties,  however,  must  be  overcome  by  the  Zionists.  Our 
weapons  to  combat  these  difficulties  must  be  patience,  time,  to- 
gether with  experience  and  money. 

According  to  the  agreement  in  force  between  Turkey  and  the 
European  powers,  every  foreigner  without  distinction  of  religion 
has  the  same  rights  as  a  Turkish  subject,  consequently  he  has  also 
the  right  to  acquire  real  estate.  But,  by  a  large  number  of  purely 
administrative  (not  statutory)  decisions,  the  Turkish  central  gov- 
ernment endeavors  to  hinder  this  transfer.  In  case,  however,  the 
European  consul,  who  is  all-powerful  in  Turkey,  interferes  in  the 
interests  of  the  subjects  of  his  government,  or  in  case  any 
purchaser  is  able  to  maintain  in  some  other  manner  the  rights 
denied  him,  the  Turkish  administration  is  compelled,  after  long 
delay,  to  give  in,  and  to  issue  the  certificate  of  purchase  in  the 
name  of  the  foreigner.  And,  in  fact,  during  the  last  few  years, 
various  lands  in  Palestine  have  been  conveyed  to  German,  French, 


and  even  Russian  subjects.     Let  us  pass,  then,  to  the  various 
means  of  acquiring  land: 

(i)  It  may  be  purchased  in  the  name  of  a  private  individual 
who  is  a  Turkish  subject,  (2)  upon  the  name  of  a  private  indi- 
vidual who  is  a  foreign  subject,  and  (3)  in  the  name  of  a  legal 
person  or  corporation  (Trust,  Fund,  "  Geullah,"  Odessa  Com- 
mittee, etc.). 

1.  A  Jew  who  is  a  Turkish  subject  can  acquire  land  in  his 
own  name  easily  and  readily.     There  is  no  chicanery  in  this  case. 
In  this  way  persons  settling  in  Palestine  may  become  Turkish 
subjects,  as  is  very  readily  accomplished,  if  they  produce  a  certifi- 
cate of  discharge   from  their  native  country.     (In   Russia  the 
colonization  committee  of  the  "  lea  "  in  St.  Petersburg  procures 
these  certificates  of  discharge).     If,  however,  from  one  reason  or 
another,  it  is  not  desired  to  assume  allegiance  to  the  government 
of  Turkey,  land  may  be  purchased  in  the  names  of  Turkish 
subjects,  security  being  given  at  the  same  time  by  the  latter  in  the 
shape  of  a  mortgage.     It  is  still  more  convenient  to  purchase 
large  pieces  of  land,  not  in  the  name  of  a  Turkish  subject,  but 
in  the  name  of  a  whole  syndicate  of  such,  persons    (Musha), 
and  to  take  a  mortgage  from  the  syndicate. 

2.  The  purchase  of  land  in  the  names  of  private  individuals 
who  are  foreign  subjects  is  much  more  difficult,  but  still  entirely 
within  the  bounds   of   possibility.     Among   Jews,   even   among 
Zionists,  there  are  sufficient  rich  people  who  will  be  readily  able 
to  defend  their  rights  upon  the  issue  of  a  certificate  of  purchase 
in  their  names,  and  to  whom,  as  also  to  their  heirs,  private 
and  public  property  may  be  entrusted  without  concern.     And, 
in  addition,  these  persons  should  also,  of  course,  give  the  real 
owner  security  in  the  shape  of  a  declaration,  certified  to  by  the 
consul  of  his  native  country,  in  which  they  renounce  for  them- 
selves and  their  heirs  any  rights  to  the  land  in  favor  of  the  actual 
owner. 

In  this  case  also,  as  under  the  first  head,  land  in  large  blocks, 
especially  intended  for  public  property,  may  be  purchased  in  the 
name  of  a  syndicate,  as,  for  example,  of  all  the  members  of  the 
Aktions-Komitee  or  other  persons  chosen  by  the  congress,  and 
the  declarations  mentioned  above  must  then  be  obtained  from  this 
syndicate.  For  property  rights,  as  in  the  first  case,  there  is  in 
the  second  case  also  nothing  whatever  to  fear.  And  even  if,  at 
any  time,  after  many  years,  any  legal  misunderstanding  should 


20 


arise,  this  circumstance  need  not  deter  us  and  hinder  our  funda- 
mental work,  the  redemption  of  the  land. 

3.  Turkish  legislation  recognizes  no  legal  persons  or  corpora- 
tions, either  among  Turkish  or  among  foreign  institutions. 
But  even  in  this  case  something  may  be  attained  after  due  effort. 
It  is  possible, 

a)  although  it  is  seldom  successfully  done,  to  obtain  a  special 
firman  granting  the  right  of  acquiring  real  estate  in  the  name  of  an 
institution.     The  Alliance  Israelite  Universelle  obtained  thus  for 
ninety-nine   years   a  piece   of   land   for   the   "  Mikweh   Israel " 
Agricultural    School   at   Jaffa.     If   our   diplomatic   influence   in 
Constantinople  be  strong  and  be  exerted  in  this  direction  we 
may  sooner  or  later  succeed  in  obtaining  a  firman  for  any  one 
of  our  financial  institutions. 

b)  It  is  possible  to  transform  our  joint  property,  the  National 
Fund,  into  a  so-called  "  Wakuf  "   (Hekdesh),  that  is,  that  this 
may  never  be  alienated  and  that  its  income  must  be  devoted  to 
certain  benevolent  objects   of  public  utility,   hospitals,   schools, 
and  so  forth. 

c)  It  is  possible  to  acquire  real  estate  in  the  name  of  the 
directors  of  the  Trust  or  of  the  Fund,  or  of  the  Geullah,  and  to 
stipulate  in  the  deed  of  purchase  that  this  piece  of  land  becomes  the 
property  of  the  directors  of  this  institution  (giving  the  name  of  the 
institution  and  the  directors).     The  directors  then  explain  to  the 
consul  of  that  state  in  which  the  management  of  this  institution  is 
located,  than  the  lands  purchased  in  their  name  do  not  belong  to 
them  personally,  but  to  the  institutions  of  which  they  are  directors. 
The  German  Bank  of  Palestine  and  the  Credit  Lyonnais  acquired 
real  estate  in  this  manner. 

It  seems  to  me  that  I  have  discussed  in  sufficient  detail  all 
questions  with  reference  to  the  necessity  and  the  possibility  of 
obtaining  land  in  Palestine.  I  would  add  that  we  leaders  of 
Zionism  ought  all  to  be  ashamed  that  we  have  not  succeeded,  in 
the  course  of  twenty-five  years,  and  especially  in  the  last  seven 
years,  in  training  up  a  few  legal  specialists,  theoretically  and  prac- 
tically masters  of  European  and  Turkish  jurisprudence,  who  un- 
derstand Turkish  and  Arabic.  We  are  always  talking  of  politics, 
and  we  have  not  yet  taken  this  needful  preparatory  step,  to  train 
men.  Is  it  not  time  to  make  up  for  this  deficiency  now  at  least  ? 


21 


XIII. 

We  acquire,  then,  land  in  Palestine.  But  what  shall  we  do 
with  it?  Shall  we  let  it  remain  an  uncultivated  desert  until  the 
acquisition  of  the  charter,  or  shall  we  utilize  it  at  once  ?  We  must 
unqualifiedly  do  the  latter,  for  the  following  reasons.  For  the 
attainment  of  our  ideal,  autonomy  in  Palestine,  it  is  necessary  that 
we  should  not  only  possess  great  tracts  of  land  there,  but  also 
that  we  should  have  there  a  large  Jewish  population.  Conse- 
quently it  is  necessary  to  colonize  in  one  way  or  another  the 
lands  purchased.  Secondly,  large  sums  will  be  expended  for 
these  lands,  and  no  receipts  will  accrue  from  them,  a  condition 
which  will  be  unfavorable  to  our  finances.  Thirdly,  it  is  beyond 
doubt  that  if  these  lands  lie  desolate,  the  neighboring  Arabs 
will  gradually  transgress  the  boundaries  and  take  possession  of 
the  land  bit  by  bit,  which  will  occasion  endless  wrangles  and  law- 
suits. Fourthly,  the  chief  receipts  of  the  Turkish  treasury  are 
made  up  of  the  "  osher  "  (twelve  per  cent  of  every  harvest) .  Con- 
sequently a  law  exists,  by  the  terms  of  which  land  which  is  not 
cultivated  at  all  by  its  owner  for  a  period  of  three  years  and  pays 
the  state  no  "  osher "  whatever,  is  confiscated  by  the  state  and 
becomes  so-called  "  machlul."  This  law  can,  it  is  true,  be  evaded, 
as  is  in  fact  done  by  many,  who  cultivate  a  small  portion  and  pay 
a  very  small  "  osher."  It  is  not,  however,  to  our  interest  to  take 
such  a  risk,  and  to  enter  upon  a  lawsuit  with  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment. But  in  what  manner  should  the  lands  purchased  be 
cultivated  ? 

Those  lands,  which  are  purchased  in  small  parcels  by  the 
colonization  societies  (Odessa  Committee,  "Ezra,"  etc.)  must  be 
delivered  to  the  colonists  who  have  large  families  or  to  those  who 
are  married  and  have  lived  for  a  long  time  in  Palestine,  to  be  paid 
for  in  a  long  term  of  years.  These  old,  experienced  colonists  and 
laborers  will  gradually  set  up  upon  these  small  pieces  of  land  their 
little  independent  households,  and  introduce  there  that  method  of 
cultivation  for  which  the  land  and  the  laborer  himself  are  best 
adapted.  The  lands  which  are  acquired  from  various  owners 
by  the  instrumentality  of  the  "  Geullah "  can  be  utilized  in  the 
following  way : 

i.  By  leasing  this  land  (in  the  case  of  farm  land)  to  any 
Jewish  colonist  from  the  colony  near  which  the  land  in  question 
is  situated.  The  lessee  pays  a  certain  percentage  or  a  certain  sum 
per  donum.  The  formal  contract  is  renewed  annually,  and  the 


owner  may  be  assured  that  the  lessee  will  not  be  in  a  position  to 
appropriate  the  land.  He  may  also,  of  course,  let  his  land  every 
year  to  another  colonist. 

2.  If  the  land  is  adapted  for  plantations,  vineyards,  and  so  on, 
the  owner  who  does  not  desire  to  leave  his  home  may  hire, 
for  a  small  salary,  a  person  living  in  Palestine  to  plant  there 
various  kinds  of  trees,  or  he  may  delegate  a  member  of  his  family ; 
if  the  owner  expends  yearly  certain  sums  upon  the  land  and 
the  plantations,  he  will  build  up  for  himself  in  the  course  of  from 
four  to  six  years,  vineyards,  boyars  (gardens) ,  and  so  on,  which 
will  yield  a  steady  annual  income,  which  will  be  sufficient  for  a 
whole  family.  The  first  private  individuals  who  present  them- 
selves may  not  purchase  land  with  the  help  of  the  "  Geullah," 
but  entire  groups  of  persons  from  one  city  or  country,  and  these 
groups  will  then  cultivate  their  establishment  in  common,  appoint- 
ing a  director  who  is  a  specialist  as  their  leader,  and  only  five  or 
six  years  later,  when  all  the  plantations  will  be  grown,  will  they 
take  up  the  division  of  the  property  among  the  individual  members 
of  the  group,  giving  each  man  the  opportunity  to  acquire  a  profit- 
able farm,  to  settle  down  there,  and  to  live  under  "  his  own  vine 
and  his  own  fig-tree."  In  this  way  did  the  Warsaw  "  Menuchah 
we-Nachalah  "  Society  establish  in  the  year  1890  the  colony  of 
Rechoboth,  and  at  the  present  time  many  members  of  the  "  Menu- 
chah we-Nachalah  "  are  already  settling  in  Rechoboth.  Many, 
however,  still  live  in  Warsaw,  and  have  a  joint  representative,  who 
looks  after  their  properties  and  sends  them  yearly  a  very  good 
rate  of  interest  upon  the  capital  invested. 

We  will  now  pass  to  the  second  class  of  lands  which  Baron 
Rothschild  and  the  "  lea  "  will  purchase.  These  lands,  after  they 
have  been  put  in  a  healthy  condition,  must  be  disposed  of  in  par- 
cels, to  be  paid  for  in  a  long  term  of  years  (not  less  than  thirty), 
at  a  small  rate  of  interest  (not  over  two  per  cent).  These  lands 
must  be  sold  to  those  colonists,  children  of  colonists,  and  labor- 
ers from  the  colonies  and  cities,  as  can  cultivate  them  at  once. 
The  colonists  must  first,  however,  pass  through  a  small  prepara- 
tory school;  for  there  are,  at  present,  only  a  few  good,  experi- 
enced, industrious  farmers  in  Palestine.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  are  very  many  young  people  in  Palestine  who  loiter  about 
in  the  colonies  and  especially  in  the  cities,  without  doing  any  work. 
Many  of  them  leave  Palestine;  they  emigrate.  They  must  be 
given  work,  they  must  be  trained  up  into  independent  colonists. 

23 


Several  agricultural  colonies  must  be  established  for  them,  to  be 
run  in  administrative  fashion,  in  which  these  young  men  must 
work  for  a  small  daily  wage,  only  sufficient  to  live  modestly.  In 
these  farms  there  must  be  the  newest,  most  improved  agricultural 
machines,  cultivation  must  be  carried  out  in  the  best  manner, 
the  strictest  discipline  and  the  greatest  demands  as  regards  work- 
men and  labor  must  prevail,  but,  in  general,  fraternal,  ideal  rela- 
tions must  exist  between  laborers  and  directors. 

Young  people  from  the  colonies,  from  the  cities  in  Palestine, 
and  even  from  foreign  countries  will  come  to  these  farms.  There 
they  will  learn  to  work.  One  farm  of  this  kind  is  already  in  ex- 
istence, the  colony  of  Sejera,  established  by  the  "  lea."  In  spite 
of  a  large  number  of  defects  and  faults,  it  nevertheless  makes  a 
splendid  impression.  There  one  may  see  fine  Jewish  farmers. 
The  National  Fund,  together  with  the  "  lea,"  must  establish  addi- 
tional Jewish  farms.  The  Fund  will  contribute  its  lands;  the 
"lea,"  the  buildings,  the  livestock,  and  the  equipment.  At  first 
these  farms  will  exhibit  a  deficit.  The  National  Fund  will  cover 
this  deficit  by  not  receiving  any  interest  for  the  capital  invested. 
The  "  lea,"  however,  will  have  to  cover  the  deficits  with  cash. 
With  expert  direction  of  the  establishment,  the  losses  will  steadily 
become  smaller  and  smaller,  and  afterwards  these  farms  will  even 
produce  small  surpluses.  The  laborer  who  has  passed  some  years 
in  this  farm  and  has  stood  the  test  of  hard  work  and  discipline 
will  be  mentally  and  physically  healthy.  He  will  now  receive 
from  the  "  lea  "  a  parcel  of  land  (which  he  can  cultivate  alone, 
without  helpers),  for  several  years,  upon  a  lease,  receiving  in 
addition  from  the  society  mentioned  a  small  sum  of  money  (two 
to  three  thousand  francs  per  family),  for  the  purchase  of  live- 
stock and  equipment,  for  seed,  and  for  living  expenses  until  the 
first  harvest.  He  will  pay  the  "  lea  "  a  certain  rent,  either  in  kind 
from  the  harvest,  or  in  cash,  per  donum.  After  he  has  worked 
for  several  years  as  a  lessee  and  has  proved  himself  a  good,  indus- 
trious farmer,  he  will  receive  his  land  as  his  own  property,  to  be 
paid  for  in  a  long  term  of  years,  and  he  will  become  an  indepen- 
ent  landowner. 

The  lands  of  the  National  Fund  must  be  treated  quite  differ- 
ently. One  part  of  these  lands  will  be  converted  into  farms  as 
above  described,  another  part  of  these  lands  should  be  converted 
into  scientific  experiment  stations,  while  the  entire  remainder 
should  be  utilized  in  a  two  fold  manner :  a  part,  and  not  a  large 


24 


one  should  be  transformed  into  public  domain ;  as,  for  instance,  for 
olive  groves,  according  to  the  projects  of  our  Palestine  Com- 
mission, in  case,  of  course,  there  is  sufficient  money  on  hand  for 
this  particular  purpose,  concerning  which  I  personally  entertain 
doubts.  Upon  the  largest  portion  of  the  lands  of  the  National 
Fund,  however,  co-operative  colonies  must  be  established,  in 
accordance  with  Oppenheimer's  project. 

For  the  establishment  of  these  co-operative  colonies  there  are 
necessary  land,  buildings,  livestock  and  implements,  seed,  living 
expenses  until  the  first  harvest,  a  school,  a  physician,  etc.  The 
first  must  be  given  by  the  National  Fund ;  the  second,  that  is,  the 
buildings,  must  be  erected  by  the  "  lea " ;  the  third,  livestock, 
implements,  etc.,  must  be  brought  by  the  members  of  the  society 
themselves;  and  the  last,  that  is,  general  expenses,  must  be 
provided  for  by  the  Odessa  Palestine  Committee.  These  co- 
operative colonies  will  be  obliged,  when  they  have  made  progress 
and  become  strong,  to  pay  the  National  Fund  a  low  rate  of  inter- 
est annually  upon  the  capital  expended  upon  the  land,  for  the  land 
of  the  National  Fund  will  never  become  their  property.  Further- 
more, the  society  will  be  obliged  to  pay  the  "  lea  "  for  the  build- 
ings, together  with  two  per  cent  interest,  to  give  up  all  claim  to 
the  support  of  the  Odessa  Committee  at  any  time,  and  to  take 
upon  itself  all  communal  expenses.  We  have,  then,  pointed  out 
all  of  three  ways  in  which  the  land  may  be  utilized.  Before  I 
leave  this  question,  however,  I  desire  to  linger  over  the  discussion 
of  one  matter  upon  which  the  whole  future  of  the  colonization  of 
Palestine  depends.  It  is  the  so-called  Labor  Question. 


XV. 

Anyone  who  spent  only  a  short  time  in  traveling  through  the 
Jewish  colonies  would  be  able  to  see  great  numbers  of  Arabs, 
male  and  female,  working  in  Jewish  fields,  gardens,  vineyards, 
and  even  in  Jewish  stables  and  houses.  Many  thousand  Arabs 
obtain  work  with  the  Jews,  while  many  Jews  are  idle  from  lack 
of  work.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  anomaly?  Day-laborers  are 
needed  in  every  colony.  The  vine-grower  and  even  the  farmer 
who  owns  a  fairly  large  piece  of  land,  cannot  under  any  circum- 
stances get  through  with  all  his  work  by  himself,  and  requires  a 
considerable  number  of  helpers.  In  employing  a  laborer,  cheap- 
ness is  of  course  the  chief  consideration  for  him,  and  he  also  takes 


advantage  of  the  circumstance  that  he  may  employ  the  Arab  at  any 
time  which  suits  his  own  convenience,  and  he  endeavors  to  get  as 
much  out  of  him  as  he  possibly  can.  In  all  this  the  Arab  has  the 
advantage  of  the  Jew.  The  Arab,  who  is  accustomed  to  the  very 
lowest  standard  of  living,  receives  a  wage  which  cannot  be  satis- 
factory to  a  Jewish  laborer,  who  has  higher  wants. 

In  the  second  place,  the  Arab  lives  in  his  village,  near  the 
Jewish  colony.  He  comes  to  work  when  there  is  any  to  be 
had,  and  goes  away  without  making  any  complaint  when  there  is 
none.  He  even  works  sometimes  only  half  a  day,  and  then  goes 
home.  At  the  same  time,  the  demand  for  labor  varies  consider- 
ably in  Palestine,  according  to  climatic  conditions  and  the  condi- 
tions of  farm  work  in  the  course  of  the  year.  While  a  great  num- 
ber of  laborers  is  needed  in  winter,  there  is  much  less  work  in 
spring  and  in  summer,  and  almost  none  at  all  in  August  and  Sep- 
tember. On  the  bright  days  of  sunshine  in  the  rainy  season,  in 
the  winter,  for  example,  the  supply  of  laborers  is  never  sufficient, 
while  on  the  rainy  days  there  is  not  enough  work  for  a  single 
laborer.  The  sun  shines  half  a  day,  and  work  goes  on ;  it  rains 
the  other  half  of  the  day,  and  then  the  laborer  is  sent  home.  The 
Arab  can  endure  all  these  conditions,  but  the  Jew  cannot,  for  the 
latter  must  be  given  work  the  whole  year  round,  as  he  does  not 
possess  his  plot  of  ground,  his  village,  and  his  little  corner.  An- 
other difficulty  is  that  the  Arab  needs  no  dwelling-place,  for  he 
either  goes  home  to  his  village  or  he  sleeps  under  the  open  sky, 
while  the  Jew  can  do  neither  one  thing  nor  the  other.  He  must 
hire  a  dwelling-place  in  the  colony.  But  either  there  is  none  to  be 
had  or  it  is  too  dear  for  him.  These  are  all  completely  justifiable 
reasons,  which  constrain  the  colonists  to  prefer  the  Arab  laborer  to 
the  Jew.  There  are,  however,  still  other  causes,  psychological  and 
quite  inexcusable.  The  Jew,  whether  he  is  an  administrator  of 
a  colony  of  the  baron,  or  an  independent  proprietor,  regards  the 
Arab  laborer  as  a  beast  of  burden,  whom  he  gets  as  much  out 
of  as  possible.  He  looks  down  upon  him,  as  a  master  upon  his 
servant.  He  must  act  very  differently  toward  the  Jewish  laborer. 
The  latter  rightfully  demands  treatment  becoming  his  station. 
He  will  be  abundantly  able,  in  case  of  injury,  to  defend  his  rights 
on  the  spot,  or  in  the  Jewish  press.  If  the  laborer  works  for  the 
administrator,  he  knows  but  too  well  that  the  latter  exists  for  him 
and  not  he  for  the  administrator,  and  he  gives  vent  to  this  often 
and  loudly  enough.  If  he  works  for  a  Jewish  land-owner,  he 

26 


knows  only  too  well  that  nine-tenths  of  these  colonists  owe  their 
property  and  their  prosperity  not  to  their  honest  toil  alone,  but 
that  they  have  received  it  from  Baron  Rothschild,  from  the  "  lea," 
or  from  the  Choveve  Zion.  It  is  quite  natural  that  the  Jewish 
laborer  lays  claim  to  an  independent  establishment  of  exactly  the 
same  kind  as  his  employer  possesses.  Most  of  the  colonists  do 
not  support  these  laborers  very  willingly,  because  they  are  afraid 
that  a  part  of  their  property  will  pass  sooner  or  later  out  of  the 
hands  of  their  "  benefactors  "  to  the  laborer. 

This  is  the  condition  of  the  Labor  Problem  in  Palestine.  Among 
many  thousand  Arabs  there  are  only  a  few  Jewish  laborers.  That 
is  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  word  a  sore  spot  in  our  colonisation. 
And,  however  difficult  and  unpleasant  the  solution  of  this  prob- 
lem may  be,  it  must  be  obtained  immediately  and  unconditionally. 
Otherwise,  the  whole  colonization  of  Palestine  is  built  upon  sand, 
or,  rather,  upon  a  volcano.  The  poor,  cunning,  uncultivated  Arab, 
the  Fellah,  will  develop,  and  he  will  see  flourishing  Jewish  colonies 
with  a  small  Jewish  population.  He  will  come  to  know  that  his 
hands  and  his  sweat  have  brought  about  this  prosperity  and  he 
will  voice  his  claims  to  this  prosperity  boldly  and  loudly  enough. 
When  a  horse  becomes  aware  of  his  strength,  he  throws  his  rider. 
Even  now  a  delicate  ear  can  detect  many  Arabs,  who  dwell  in 
Zikron-Ya'akob,  murmuring  that  they  have  done  it  all.  More- 
over, the  Arabs  who  dwell  in  the  villages  around  the  Jewish  col- 
onies, after  they  have  obtained  permanent  employment,  no  longer 
think  of  selling  their  land  and  emigrating,  as  before.  He  who 
knows  the  temper  of  the  Arabs  of  the  village  of  Sarafen,  for  ex- 
ample, before  and  after  the  foundation  of  "  Rishon  le-Zion,"  will 
readily  understand  me. 

It  is,  then,  once  for  all  necessary  to  replace  the  Arab  laborer  by 
Jews.  But  how  are  we  to  go  about  it? 

A  Jewish  Universal  Society  of  Workmen  [Weltarbeitergenos- 
senschaft],  composed  of  unmarried  young  men,  physically  and 
mentally  sound,  must  be  formed.  It  should  be  the  duty  of  every 
member  of  this  society  to  go  to  Palestine  for  three  years,  in 
order  to  perform  there  his  military  duty  to  the  Jewish  people, 
not  with  musket  and  sword,  but  with  plow  and  sickle.  These 
thousands  of  young  people  will  be  obliged  to  present  them- 
selves in  the  colonies,  in  order  to  offer  their  services  as  labor- 
ers at  the  same  wages  as  the  Arabs  receive.  They  will  be  obliged 
to  live  under  the  most  trying  conditions,  exactly  as  the  soldier 

27 


does  in  the  barracks.  The  colonization  societies  will  come  to 
their  aid  by  the  erection  of  free  dwellings  in  all  Jewish  colonies, 
by  providing  a  physician  and  cultural  advantages  (library,  news- 
papers). Such  a  laborer  may,  after  three  years  of  service,  remain 
in  the  country  as  a  farmer  in  any  co-operative  colony  of  the 
"  lea  "  (if  he  has  brought  with  him  from  home  sufficient  means). 
The  majority,  however,  will  leave  Palestine  and  return  home. 

After  three  years  of  service  for  his  people,  he  will  have  the 
right  to  devote  himself  to  his  own  fortunes.  By  forming  such  a 
society  we  attain  another  object,  not  less  important.  The  bond  be- 
tween the  Jews  of  Palestine  and  the  Jews  of  the  lands  of  the  exile 
will  cease  to  be  a  paper  one  (prayers,  books,  periodicals),  and  will 
become  a  living  one.  Hundreds  of  young  people  will  carry  to 
Palestine  the  feelings  and  the  ideas  of  those  who  work  for  Pal- 
estine, while  other  hundreds  will  transmit  to  us  from  Palestine 
the  feelings  and  the  ideas  of  those  who  work  in  Palestine. 

But  shall  we  have  young  people  ready  for  such  sacrifices?  I 
would  fain  hope  that  we  shall.  If  we  had  the  "  Bilu  "  at  the 
beginning  of  the  eighties,  I  am  convinced  that  we  shall  now  have 
thousands.  Youth  is  very  susceptible.  It  craves  self-sacrifice.  It 
only  requires  to  be  called  and  to  have  the  way  pointed  out  to  it. 
This  I  am  now  doing. 

XVI. 

Thus  far  we  have  discussed  agricultural  colonization  exclus- 
ively. Let  us  now  pass  to  the  question  of  trade  and  industry, 
which  was  entirely  left  out  of  consideration  during  the  whole 
course  of  our  movement.  It  is,  however,  important  and  neces- 
sary, for  the  following  reasons : 

1.  The   economic  development  of  every  state  is  now  being 
transformed  more  and  more  from  an  agricultural  to  an  industrial 
character,  and  only  poor,  backward  countries  depend  solely  upon 
agriculture.     This  process  of  development  is  constantly  advanc- 
ing, and  we  must  keep  it  in  view  in  the  creation  of  our  center  in 
Palestine. 

2.  We  are  not  creating  a  small,  spiritual  center  in  Palestine, 
but  a  great  politico-economic  center,  which  is  to  receive  the 
larger  part  of  the  Jewish  people.     Owing  to  the  small  area  of 
Palestine,  this  will  be  possible  only  with  highly  developed  com- 
merce and  manufactures.     In  the  commercial  and  industrial  state 


28 


of  Belgium,  which  is  as  large  as  Palestine,  there  dwells  a  popula- 
tion of  six  millions. 

3.  The  Jewish  masses,  who  will  emigrate  to  Palestine,  consist 
almost  exclusively  of  city-dwellers.     They  can  hence  be  provided 
for  in  factories  and  work-shops  much  more  readily  and  at  much 
less  expense,  than  in  agriculture. 

4.  Under  the  present  Turkish  regime,  agricultural  coloniza- 
tion entails  great  difficulties  (laws  concerning  the  acquisition  of 
land,  large  taxes,  etc.).     On  the  other  hand,  for  commerce  and 
industry  favorable  conditions  prevail,  with  absolute  freedom  on 
the  side  of  the  Turkish  laws,  and  complete  release  from  taxes  for 
Turkish  as  well  as  foreign  subjects. 

5.  The    central    position   of   Palestine  between   Europe    and 
Asia,  between  the  Suez  Canal  on  one  side  and  the  Bagdad  Rail- 
way, in  process  of  construction,  on  the  other,  is  also  especially 
favorable     for     commerce     and     manufactures ;     there     is     in 
Palestine,  besides,  much  raw  material  for  manufacturing  (wool, 
raw  silk,  products  of  various  plantations,  various  mines  on  the 
Dead  Sea,  etc.). 

Fabulously  low  wages  will  prevail  in  Palestine  for  a  very  long 
time  to  come.  The  only  defect  for  the  development  of  industry 
in  Palestine  is  the  almost  entire  lack  of  a  protective  tariff  C&l/2 
per  cent  on  all  imports).  This  defect  is  counterbalanced,  how- 
ever, by  the  low  wages  of  labor;  moreover,  the  raw  material  is 
right  at  hand,  so  that  it  will  be  possible  to  exclude  foreign  goods 
from  the  market.  Starting  from  city  colonization,  from  com- 
merce and  manufactures,  I  at  once  enlarge  our  program  as  re- 
gards extent  of  territory.  In  discussing  agricultural  colonization 
I  think  exclusively  of  Palestine  in  the  narrowest  sense  of  the 
word ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  I  consider  that  we  should  under- 
take the  development  of  commerce  and  manufactures  for  all 
Asiatic  Turkey,  for  the  following  reasons : 

a.  Our   future   center   can  be   only   in    Palestine  exclusively. 
Therefore  we  must  devote  all  our  powers,  all  our  means  to  the 
acquisition  of  land  in   Palestine  and  the  colonization  of  it  by 
Jews.     It  would  be  a  tremendous  error  on  our  part  to  devote  our 
powers  to  agricultural  colonization  even  partly  outside  of  Pal- 
estine. 

b.  But  at  the  same  time  with  the  development  of  our  center 
we  must  also  strive  to  gain  influence  everywhere  in  Turkey.    This 
will,  however,  only  be  possible  if  the  Jews  live  in  great  numbers 
in  Asiatic  Turkey  and  represent  a  healthy  economic  factor. 

29 


c.  The    development    of    Jewish    commerce    and    industry    in 
Asiatic  Turkey  will  require,  on  our  part,  no  special  efforts  and 
expenditures  whatever  which  would  have  to  be  withdrawn  from 
the  work  in  Palestine  proper. 

d.  The  direction  of  Jewish  emigration  toward  Asiatic  Turkey 
will  be,  even  if  only  to  a  limited  extent,  a  relief  to  the  great  misery 
of  the  present  situation  of  the  Jews  in  Eastern  Europe. 

The  Jewish  Colonial  Trust,  through  its  branch,  the  Anglo- 
Palestine  Company,  must  take  the  initiative  in  the  development 
of  commerce  and  manufacture  in  Palestine,  Syria,  and  Asia 
Minor,  and  in  the  attraction  thither  of  Jewish  capital,  Jewish 
knowledge,  and  Jewish  labor.  Our  trust,  with  its  capital  of 
$1,250,000,  has  little  significance  among  European  banks  in 
general  and  especially  in  London.  And  whatever  efforts  the  trust 
may  make  to  become  popular  in  Europe  by  its  banking  operations 
and  discounts,  it  will  never  attain  an  equal  footing  in  the  world- 
market,  for  the  dividends  which  it  will  be  in  a  position  to  pay  will 
be  very  small,  because  it  may  not  undertake  risky  ventures,  like 
other  banks.  It  may  not  discount  its  bills  of  exchange  with  out- 
side capital.  It  is,  of  course,  in  the  last  analysis  a  political,  and 
not  a  purely  financial  institution.  Therefore  the  financial  world 
does  not  to  this  day  purchase  its  shares,  in  spite  of  the  irreproach- 
able, safe  management  of  the  directors,  but  only  people  who  are 
followers  of  the  idea.  In  poor  Turkey,  however,  its  capital  will 
be  sufficient. 

The  principal  object  of  the  trust,  to  furnish  a  legal  body  to 
receive  the  charter,  concessions,  and  so  forth,  has  been  already 
attained,  as  the  English  authorities  have  confirmed  its  statutes. 
Further  banking  operations  will  not  advance  this  cause.  It  will 
be  something  altogether  different  if  the  trust  gradually  in- 
vests its  capital  directly,  on  the  spot,  in  Palestine  and  in  Turkey. 
Here  it  will  be  all-powerful.  While  in  Europe  a  special  permit 
must  be  obtained  to  open  a  branch  bank,  in  Turkey  it  is  absolutely 
unnecessary.  Without  asking  anyone,  the  representative  of  a  bank 
comes  into  any  city  in  Turkey  he  pleases,  hires  a  place,  begins 
his  operations,  and  pays  no  taxes  whatever.  Thus  it  was  at  the 
opening  of  the  Anglo-Palestine  Company  in  Jaffa,  thus  it  was  in 
Jerusalem.  And  when  the  local  authorities  desired  to  create  diffi- 
culties, the  order  came  immediately  from  the  capital,  at  the  request 
of  the  English  ambassador,  to  allow  the  bank  entire  freedom  of 
operation.  Our  trust  must  gradually  cover  all  prominent  points 


in  Turkey  (Gaza,  Haifa,  Beirut,  Safed,  Aleppo,  Damascus,  Alex- 
andretta  (Iskanderun),  Smyrna,  Brusa,  and  finally  Constanti- 
nople itself)  with  a  network  of  branches.  These  divisions  of 
the  bank  will  operate  not  only  with  their  own  capital,  but  they 
will  also  attract  to  their  treasury  as  deposits  much  unemployed 
capital,  of  which  there  is  a  very  considerable  amount  in  Turkey 
in  the  hands  of  Sephardic  Jews  and  rich  Mohammedans.  The 
Jaffa  and  Jerusalem  branches  have  proved  this  to  us  already. 
They  operate  almost  exclusively  with  local  capital.  At  the  same 
time,  it  might  be  noticed  that  the  Mohammedans  greatly  prefer 
making  their  operations  through  the  Jewish  bank  to  making  them 
through  the  German  and  French  banks  there.  With  the  exten- 
sion of  the  operations  of  our  trust,  it  will,  beyond  doubt,  also 
obtain  credit  in  Europe,  and  its  shares  will  be  more  and  more 
purchased  when  it  is  known  what  significance  it  has ;  its  original 
capital  will  also  gradually  increase.  The  intelligent,  practical 
men  who  look  after  this  department  with  their  directors  at  their 
head,  will  be  the  center  around  which  the  sound  economic  elements 
will  be  grouped,  both  those  already  existing  in  Palestine  and  those 
which  come  in  afterwards.  The  conditions  of  the  erection  of  this 
or  that  factory,  of  this  or  that  branch  of  industry  and  manufac- 
turing will  be  investigated  on  the  spot.  Without  doubt,  chiefly 
manufactures  will  be  at  first  developed,  and  these  will  constantly 
assume  greater  and  greater  proportions.  Business  enterprises 
will  be  stimulated  and  developed.  The  trust  must  support  all 
of  these  undertakings  with  its  initiative,  information  and  con- 
nections. It  will  be  obliged  to  attract  to  Palestine  people  with 
knowledge,  experience,  and  the  financial  means  necessary  for 
this  or  that  enterprise.  Under  sufficient  guarantees,  the  bank 
will  support  the  undertaking  with  active  capital  also.  In  this 
way  Jewish  manufacturers,  merchants,  artisans,  laborers,  clerks, 
bookkeepers,  etc.,  will  penetrate  into  Palestine  and  Turkey. 
They  will  take  part  not  only  in  Jewish,  but  also  in  Mohammedan 
businesses.  Of  course,  all  of  this  must  be  done  gradually  and  care- 
fully, without  making  the  invasion  of  the  hungry  proletariat  pos- 
sible. The  trust,  when  it  is  located  on  the  spot,  will  be  able  to 
exercise  a  great  influence  upon  the  Turkish  provincial  and  central 
administration,  and  will  always  be  on  the  lookout  to  discern  the 
interests  of  our  diplomacy  and  to  smooth  its  path. 

He  who,  like  myself,  is  acquainted  with  the  work  of  our  trust 
in  Palestine  during  fifteen  months,  will  understand  that  this  is 


not  a  matter  of  mere  words,  but  an  established  fact.  The  trust 
and  especially  its  branch  in  Constantinople,  which  will  be  under 
the  strong  protection  of  the  English  flag,  will  seek  and  gradually 
obtain  various  concessions  for  large  works  and  undertakings 
of  public  utility,  as,  for  example,  the  utilization  of  the  wealth 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  construction  of  a  harbor  at  Jaffa  and  other 
seaports,  city  and  suburban  railroads,  work  in  irrigation,  etc. 

After  the  receipt  of  such  a  concession,  the  bank  will  attract 
outside  Jewish  capital  in  order  to  utilize  it,  and  will  itself  have  a 
part  in  the  affair  as  a  subscriber.  In  this  way  a  new  opportunity 
is  created  to  utilize  Jewish  energy.  The  bank  can  be  of  very 
great  use  in  another  direction,  by  relieving  the  Jewish  farmers  of 
Palestine  from  the  abuse  of  the  tax-farmer.  If  the  political  and 
economic  position  of  the  bank  is  strong,  it  may  drive  out  this 
tax-farmer  and  replace  him.  By  loans  upon  various  agricultural 
products  and  implements,  by  short-term  credit  at  moderate  rates 
under  joint  guarantee,  by  taking  part  in  the  erection  of  wine- 
cellars,  etc.,  the  Jaffa  bank  is  already  at  the  present  time  aiding 
the  economic  development  of  the  Jewish  colonies.  He  who  knows 
the  power  of  a  foreign  financial  institution  in  Turkey  will  under- 
stand that  by  the  systematic  carrying-out  of  this  point  in  our 
program  we  will  gain  power  in  Palestine,  obtain  great  influence 
in  Turkey,  and,  finally,  be  able  to  turn  Jewish  emigration  into 
new  channels.  I  would  refer  to  one  more  matter.  Many  are 
discouraged  by  the  prohibition  of  the  entrance  of  Jewish  emi- 
grants into  Palestine.  This  does  not  terrify  me  at  all.  Aside 
from  the  fact  that  this  prohibition  is  only  rarely  enforced,  it  only 
exists  for  Palestine,  while  I  have  spoken  of  immigration  into 
Turkey  in  general.  Secondly,  in  Palestine  itself  commerce  and 
manufactures  may  be  developed  among  the  Jews  already  residing 
there.  Thirdly,  the  emigrants  who  forsake  eastern  Europe  and 
Russia  for  ever,  will  provide  themselves  with  certificates  of  dis- 
charge from  their  government,  become  Turkish  subjects,  and 
settle  freely  in  Palestine.  Fourthly,  Jews  of  western  Europe  and 
America  have  the  right  to  settle  in  Palestine.  The  consuls  of 
these  states  have  again  established  their  rights.  Fifthly,  I  have 
no  doubt  that  the  Russian  government,  if  we  make  an  effort  to 
that  end,  will  restore  the  rights  of  its  Jewish  subjects,  just  as  the 
other  governments  have  done. 


XVII. 

Thus  far  we  have  discussed  the  methods  of  gaining  economic 
control  of  Palestine.  But  parallel  with  the  economic  develop- 
ment, a  way  must  be  opened  for  the  spiritual,  cultural  conquest 
of  Palestine.  Let  us  now  pass  to  the  discussion  of  this  point. 

The  exploration  of  the  country  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  transition 
from  economic  endeavor  to  purely  cultural  and  spiritual  endeavor. 
I  need  not  tarry  long  over  the  point,  because,  all  parties  in  Zionism 
recognize  it  as  necessary,  and  sufficient  has  already  been  written 
and  said  concerning  it.  The  exploration  of  the  country  must  be 
most  comprehensive  and  complete.  Everything  must  be  investi- 
gated, the  soil,  the  minerals,  the  present  flora,  and  those  possible 
in  the  future,  the  fauna,  and  the  means  of  improving  various 
species,  the  climatic  conditions,  which  are  so  various  in  the  small 
country,  and  the  hygienic  and  agricultural  questions  connected 
with  them,  the  natural  and  artificial  means  of  watering  the  land, 
the  meteorology.  Then  the  ethnography  of  the  country  with  its 
diverse  and  polyglot  population  must  be  investigated,  and  especi- 
ally all  parts  of  the  Turkish  legislation  in  general  and  of  the  local 
laws  in  force  in  particular.  We  will  communicate  the  results  of 
all  these  investigations  to  the  local  population  and  thus  bear 
knowledge,  light,  and  culture  into  the  country.  But,  in  order  to 
carry  out  this  comprehensive  program  of  investigation,  money  and 
men  are  needed.  Palestine  must  be  covered  with  a  whole  net 
of  experiment  stations  of  all  possible  classes,  in  which  the  most 
diverse  experiments  may  be  made.  For  this  purpose  a  whole 
staff  of  investigators  and  laborers  must  be  provided.  The  land 
for  these  experiment  stations  must  be  given  by  the  National  Fund. 
The  means  for  their  erection  and  maintenance  must  be  provided 
by  different  colonization  societies  together  with  the  "  lea,"  and 
for  this  purpose  the  Aktions-Komitee  must  assign  a  part  of  the 
receipts  from  shekels,  and  institute  offerings  specially  for  this 
purpose.  The  men  we  must  get  from  the  midst  of  our  young 
students,  who  pine  to  be  able  to  employ  their  strength  in  the 
national  cause,  and  we  must  prepare  them  at  the  proper  time. 
Properly  prepared  for  this  or  that  department  of  investigation, 
the  young  men  will  journey  to  Palestine  for  a  certain  time,  and 
work  there  for  a  very  modest  salary.  Of  course,  scholars  of 
established  reputation  must  stand  at  the  head  of  this  undertaking, 
and  these  men  will  receive  a  recompense  proportionate  to  their 
position.  They  will  receive  from  the  National  Fund  only  general 

33 


directions  and  instructions.  The  so-called  Palestine  Commission, 
chosen  by  the  congress,  must  not  have  its  seat  in  any  European 
capital,  but  on  the  spot  in  Palestine.  Whatever  good  work  the 
present  Palestine  Commission  does,  its  work  would  unquestion- 
ably be  more  fruitful  if  it  had  its  seat,  not  in  Berlin,  but  some- 
where in  Palestine. 

XVIII. 

Spiritual  culture  consists  fundamentally  in  the  education  of  the 
population.  The  population  begins  to  regard  the  school  as  the 
foundation  of  its  future  prosperity.  It  acquires  the  language, 
literature,  and  culture  of  that  people  to  which  the  schools  belong. 
This  comes  about,  of  course,  only  in  case  the  schools,  on  the 
one  hand,  have  an  attractive  influence  through  their  fine  equip- 
ment, and,  on  the  other  hand,  when  the  instruction  in  the  school 
is  optional,  and  is  not  required  by  the  pressure  of  any  coercive 
force.  We  see,  for  example,  that  the  schools  of  the  European 
peoples  in  Palestine  are  very  freely  attended  by  the  children 
of  the  Arabs.  In  Syria  alone  there  are  about  eighty  schools  of 
the  "  Russian  Orthodox  Society."  Among  other  things,  the 
children  there  are  also  taught  Russian.  We  Jews  also,  who  con- 
sider Palestine  our  future  center,  must  have  our  schools  in  all 
colonies  and  cities  and  keep  their  doors  wide  open  to  Jews  and 
non-Jews,  to  boys  and  girls.  In  these  schools  Hebrew  must  be  the 
leading  language  of  instruction.  In  the  colonies  it  is  the  only 
language  of  the  schools ;  in  the  cities,  however,  in  the  boys' 
schools,  Arabic  and  one  European  language  are  taught  in  addi- 
tion; in  the  girls'  schools,  one  European  language  only  is  taught 
besides  Hebrew.  Even  at  the  present  day  Arab  boys  and  girls 
(Christian  and  Mohammedan)  may  be  noticed  in  the  Jewish 
schools  in  Jaffa,  Jerusalem,  Haifa,  Tiberias,  Beirut,  who  speak 
Hebrew  very  well.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  Arabic 
language  is  very  similar  to  Hebrew.  The  Hebrew  language, 
prevailing  in  all  the  elementary  schools,  will  weld  together  the 
motley  Jewish  population,  which  speaks  the  extremely  diverse 
languages  of  the  lands  of  the  exile.  The  lower  schools  must  be 
followed  by  secondary,  special  technical  and  industrial  schools,  and 
these,  finally,  by  higher  institutions,  such  as  a  normal  school  and 
a  polytechnic  institute.  In  order  to  create  all  of  these  things  the 
Aktions-Komitee  need  not  advance  any  money,  but  it  must  unite 
al|, 4hose, institutions  which  already  look  after  the  schools  in  Pal- 

34 


estine,  and  it  must  for  this  purpose  call  new  institutions  into  being. 
The  question  of  the  schools  already  in  existence,  of  the  program, 
the  organization,  and  the  budget  requires  special  treatment,  which 
I  have  already  given  it  in  an  article  to  appear  in  the  "  Stimme  der 
Wahrheit"  (Wiirzburg). 

The  work  upon  the  schools  in  Palestine  will  require  many  in- 
tellectual helpers,  and  will  thereby  open  a  new  field  of  activity 
to  our  young  men.  The  kindergartens,  the  schools  in  the  col- 
onies, the  lower  and  secondary  schools  in  the  cities  will  require 
many  teachers,  male  and  female.  That  part  of  our  idealistic 
young  people,  who  feel  themselves  called  to  fulfil  the  teacher's 
mission,  must  prepare  themselves  especially  for  that  purpose, 
and  acquire  in  addition  to  general  culture  Jewish  culture  also. 
These  young  people  will  be  obliged  to  go,  not  only  into  the  schools 
of  Palestine,  but  also  into  those  of  all  Turkey,  in  order  to  instil 
into  the  rising  Jewish  generation  our  fundamental  national  ideas 
and  demands.  These  young  people  will  be  obliged  to  go  to 
Turkey  not  only  as  teachers,  but  also  as  representatives  of  other 
liberal  professions.  There  is  an  especially  large  opening  in 
Turkey  for  our  female  doctors,  midwives,  and  female  surgeons. 
A  Mohammedan  woman  almost  never  has  recourse  to  a  physician ; 
consequently  the  female  representatives  of  the  professions  men- 
tioned may  obtain  a  large  practice. 

If  these  women  will  be  bearers  of  our  idea,  they  will,  once 
they  have  penetrated  into  the  Arabic  and  Turkish  harem,  be  able 
to  be  of  the  greatest  service  to  our  cause. 

Before  I  leave  the  question  of  schools,  I  must  in  addition  give 
particular  attention  to  the  establishment  of  a  seminary  for  teach- 
ers and  of  a  school  for  rabbis.  The  former  must  be  the  affair  of 
our  progressive  Zionist  party,  the  latter  is  the  affair  of  the 
orthodox  party  (Mizrahi). 

The  teachers  and  rabbis  of  these  institutions  after  the  comple- 
tion of  their  studies  will  be  readily  employed  by  the  congre- 
gations of  the  exile,  and  will  in  this  way  infiltrate  Zionist  ideas 
into  the  Jewish  congregations. 

It  is  necessary  to  add  that  schools  in  Turkey,  and  especially 
in  Palestine,  enjoy  complete  freedom  on  the  part  of  the  Turkish 
administration,  particularly  when  they  are  founded  by  a  foreign 
society. 


35 


XIX. 

Now  that  I  have  shown,  then,  with  what  means  we  must  gain 
economical  and  cultural  control  of  Palestine,  I  must  add  besides 
that  the  consolidation  of  all  Jewish  powers  already  in  Palestine 
into  one  general  organization  must  take  place  immediately.  The 
eighty  thousand  Jews  of  Palestine  must  cease  to  be  small,  scat- 
tered bodies  which  are  often  at  conflict,  and  must  form  a  united, 
single  Jewry,  united  by  one  language,  by  the  same  interests  and 
by  the  common  goal.  This  organisation  must  be  the  advance 
guard  of  our  forces.  It  must  be  supported  and  fostered  by  us. 
It  must  make  it  the  object  of  its  first  endeavors  to  root  out  the 
spirit  of  mendicancy  which  prevails  in  the  greater  part  of  the 
cities  and  the  colonies.  It  must  bring  with  it  a  new  wave  of  life 
and  sound  a  call  for  self-activity  and  self-help.  It  will  produce 
idealistic  men,  rich  in  self-sacrifice,  and  must  set  them  at  its  head, 
putting  aside  certain  congregational  moguls,  intriguers,  and  self- 
seekers.  In  the  past  year  such  an  organization  was  formed ;  and 
the  storm  which  was  raised  against  it,  appearing  in  various  forms 
and  under  various  masks,  only  proves  how  necessary  it  is  and  how 
dangerous  its  effect  is  for  many  negative  elements.  The  better, 
idealistic  elements  in  Palestine,  although  regrettably  few  in  num- 
ber, have  remained  true  to  our  organization  up  to  the  present  day. 
The  growth  of  this  organization  will  keep  pace  with  the  increase 
in  the  Jewish  population  of  Palestine,  and,  going  hand  in  hand 
with  the  Zionist  organization,  it  will  mould  the  Jewish  future. 

XX. 

I  have  finished.  I  have  not  said  a  single  new  word.  I  have 
repeated  old  truths,  which  fall  the  more  into  oblivion,  the  older 
they  become.  I  now  summon  all  true  Palestinian  Zionists  to 
return,  not  to  the  Chibbath  Zion,  not  to  spiritual  Zionism,  not  to 
diplomatic  Zionism,  but  to  a  synthesis  of  all  these  tendencies,  that 
is,  to  political  Zionism,  as  it  is  formulated  in  the  Basel  program. 

Decades  will  pass  by,  our  people  will  be  strengthened  spirit- 
ually, materially,  and  in  organization;  our  land  will  gradually 
pass  over  into  our  actual  possession.  The  peoples  and  rulers  of 
the  whole  world  will  be  penetrated  with  our  ideas,  and  the  fruit 
of  our  labor  will  ripen.  The  time  will  come  to  pluck  this  fruit. 
And  the  hero  will  arise,  whose  appearance  our  people  has  awaited 
for  thousands  of  years.  Neither  the  unemancipated  nor  the 

36 


spiritual  Ghetto  of  the  lands  of  the  exile  will  rear  him,  but  the  free 
spirit  of  the  mountains  of  Judea  and  Galilee.  He  will  open  unto 
us  the  gates  of  our  home  not  from  without,  but  from  within.  He 
will  unite  in  himself  the  courage  and  the  might  of  the  old  Bar- 
Kokba  with  the  spirit  and  the  charm  of  our  contemporary,  Herzl. 
Boldly  and  proudly  will  he  plant  in  the  sight  of  the  whole  world 
the  blue  and  white  banner  of  liberated  Israel  upon  Mount  Zion. 
This  is  no  fable.  This  is  no  fantasy.  This  will  come  to  pass. 


37 


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